shared this with you before but I have a master's degree in music and then a couple years later I got a master's degree in Bible but I just want you to know that I was a choir director for 14 years and at one point in my ministry I tried to start a choir in our local prison and it didn't work and let me tell you why they were always behind a few bars and they could never find the right key Good to have you here tonight. Happy Tuesday to you. Don't know if you saw the news, but the state of Indiana has worked out a deal with the Catholic Church. Did you hear about this? They've worked out a deal with the Catholic Church that parishioners can now tithe their chips. They can tithe their winnings. So the casinos right now are busy building these little booths, and they're going to be manned by chip monks. That's rich. That's good humor, people. You need to learn to laugh, okay? But good to have you here tonight. Thank you for being here. Thank you for making the effort to be here on a Tuesday night. We are memorizing a verse, aren't we? Remember how it goes? 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Joey, do you want to lead it? Come lead it, Joey. Joey learned this at camp when I was preaching at camp one summer when Joey was there. So lead us, would you, please, Joey? I'm sorry, I can't move. I'm going to read to you in 517. Therefore, for any man meeting Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Very good, Joey, very good. Very excellent, excellent job. And Joey, your mom's going to buy you a chocolate chip cookie on the way home from church tonight. So we appreciate you doing that here tonight. All right, let's get into it, shall we? Let's grab our Bibles, if you would, please. And folks, before I tell you where I'm going to go, I almost feel, I know I don't, I know I don't, I know I don't, I know I don't, but I almost feel like I need to apologize. what I'm going to do tonight in this message is we're going to look at a metaphor evidently the Apostle Paul, and I think I said this earlier this week, the Apostle Paul is some kind of sports fan. And we're going to look at sports tonight as it relates to the Bible. And I feel like I need to apologize because I realize that I think all of you would agree that you live in a society, you live in a country where sports has become idolatry. We I see men who will stay home from church to watch a stupid football game. I've seen parents who have the wrong priorities and take their children out of church on Sunday, kick a ball somewhere. How sad. That's idolatry when you let something get in front of the Lord's will like that. And so I almost feel like I need to apologize because we live in a society where it's definite idolatry. But what I want us to all understand, and please come with me, God, through the Apostle Paul and other writers in scripture, say look at a world-class athlete and learn some principles about being the right kind of Christian. What a fascinating look. So what we're going to do is we're going to look at, and may I remind you tonight, I know I said this earlier this week, But may I remind you that you're far better than a world-class athlete. You are a heaven-class athlete. You're not winning some dusty trophy. You're not winning a little bit of money. You're winning something that's going to last. Folks, try to chew on this. You're winning something right now that will last for eternity. For eternity. How much greater is that? So you are far better than world-class athletes. You are heaven-class athletes. But let's be reminded that God through his writers, says, Christian in America, I want you to look at a world-class athlete, not weekend hackers like I am at tennis, but I want you to look at a world-class athlete, the best of the best, and learn some lessons about Christianity. And one of the most vivid passages you have, it's found in Philippians chapter 3. Would you turn there with me tonight? Now, there are several references we could go to. There are many, actually. But I want to take you to Philippians 3. And one of the reasons I'm going to do that is because the athletic metaphor of Philippians 3 does not jump out at you. You kind of have to know a little bit of Greek to realize, oh, Paul's talking about sports. But we're going to look at this here tonight. It's a very famous passage, probably one of the most familiar passages in Philippians. And folks, I'm going to look tonight, I'm gonna give you four different principles that I see in this paragraph, this sports metaphor. Now, there are far more than that. I'm only gonna do four, but I'm sure that any preacher could do far more than that, but I'm gonna limit myself because for the sake of time, I'm gonna just do hit four, okay, tonight. And so would you look at Philippians chapter three, and let's start where the metaphor starts in verse number 12. Verse number 12, and friends, before I read it, let me say one more thing. Three of the four principles that we're going to look at come at you in couplets. In other words, they're repeated. They're doubled. When the Bible does that, it's showing you the didactic nature of that principle. Didactic means to teach. The writer wants you to get this. God wants you to get this. So he kind of repeats himself. the very first principle we see in Philippians chapter 3 and verse number 12, you see the same thing repeated in the next verse and I'll show you what I mean. Look at it with me, would you please? Philippians chapter 3, verse number 12, watch what it says. Paul says, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. Then he says the same thing again in verse 13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." Ladies and gentlemen, the very first principle we need to understand tonight that Paul hits is by far the most important principle of the four. It is the foundation for everything. And what Paul is saying by that statement, brother, I count not myself to have apprehended, what he is saying there to these Philippian believers and to us, that when it comes to this athletic event called Christianity, when it comes to this game that I'm involved in, Paul says, I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet. This is Paul talking. I'm not there yet. Philippian believers, even though God's used me to write scripture, even though in 2 Corinthians I told you that I have been to heaven, I am not there yet spiritually. I'm not where I want to be. I want to get bigger. I want to get better at this athletic event called Christianity. What fascinates me about that, people, and I think it will you too, is do you have any idea how old Paul was when he penned Philippians 3? He was in his 60s. This is a man that knows theology far better than anybody in this room. But yet when it came to knowing the Lord, when it came to knowing the Word of God, he's saying, I'm not there yet. I want to get better. You know what we call that in sports? We call that being hungry. And ladies and gentlemen, that's probably the most important aspect of your Christianity. Don't ever lose your hunger. What will cause you to lose your hunger? Pride. I've arrived. I'm it. I'm now a deacon. I'm now, you know, what, Sunday school day drive. I'm there. No, you're not. No, you're not. Not even Paul knew I wasn't there yet. Every great athlete, friends, I don't know if you know this, but every great athlete is always hungry for more. They're never, ever satisfied with how many victories they've had. They're never satisfied with how many championships. They're thankful for those victories. They're thankful for those championships, but they always, if they're the right kind of athlete, if they're the world's best, they're always hungry for more. They're never, ever satisfied. Let me show you something kind of interesting. I don't know how much you follow football, but for years I lived in New England. I lived in New England two different times. The first time for about seven years, the second time for about 12 years. Anyway, the second time that I went back to New England, when I got to New England, I enjoyed listening to sports radio. And let me tell you what we heard in New England. We heard all summer This could be the year. The New England Patriots, oh, they love the Patriots. They love them just like you love the Colts. They love the Patriots. At least I think you love the Colts. But anyway, they love the Patriots. And so you heard all summer on sports radio, oh, this could be the year. We got a great quarterback by the name of Drew Bledsoe. We almost made the playoffs this year. We got a good foundation. We got all the parts, all the positions are filled with good quality. This could be the year. And the buzz, people, the buzz in the air, and you've got to understand, they love sports in New England. The buzz in the air was, yeah! yeah yeah it's looking good i can't wait till football starts the very first home game of that season drew bledsoe in the second quarter of the game faded back to pass and a new york jet linebacker broke through the protection and absolutely slaughtered drew bledsoe rupturing his spleen and breaking his leg and a couple ribs i mean he got plastered They had to help Drew Bledsoe off the field and out came Drew Bledsoe's backup. Nobody knew him. He was kind of a rookie and he was kind of awkward and he came out there and he took over for Drew Bledsoe and people he stunk and the Patriots got killed and all week nobody can cry like a New England sports fan and all week you heard Oh no, what are we going to do? That's not fair. I'm so depressed. I heard that all week. The Knicks game came and the backup quarterback came out and folks before another week, he stunk. It was terrible. They got killed. Before another week. Well, the third game that backup played came out, and he didn't look too bad, and the Patriots narrowly won. So for another week, we missed Drew. When we get Drew back in here, I mean, he was done for the season. Well, that backup quarterback kept coming out game after game and looking better and better and better. And people, nobody, I mean nobody in New England saw this coming. The Patriots made the playoffs. We were thrilled. We were absolutely thrilled. And let me tell you what happened in the playoffs. I mean, nobody in the entire NFL world saw this coming. The Patriots made the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, they were huge underdogs. They were playing a team that was called the greatest show on turf, the St. Louis Rams. They were good. And I believe if memory serves me correctly, The Patriots were a 14-point underdog. I mean, nobody. Well, let me tell you what happened in that game. Led by their backup quarterback, they won the Super Bowl. Narrowly. It was a good game, but they narrowly won. Let me tell you about New England. It was party time, baby. Yeah! Oh, by the way, that backup, perhaps you've heard of him. His name was, and still is, Tom Brady. Well, let me tell you what happened. Everybody fell in love with Tom Brady. Oh, Tom Brady, he can have my firstborn. Tom Brady, he the man, he the man. We love Tom Brady. Drew Bledsoe. And they traded him to Buffalo. And they sent him away. And Tom Brady became the man. That next summer, after they won the Super Bowl, about six months later, The Patriots are at training camp. They had training camp in Rhode Island. And they were at training camp, and ESPN, that famous sports channel, put a microphone in Tom Brady's face. Understand, he's only 23, 24 years old. They put a microphone in his face, and they asked this question. Mr. Brady, you have now won it all. What's next? What more is there? And this is exactly what that young man said. He said, I don't know. I've won it all. Do you hear what's happening, people? Here you have a world-class athlete, and he was good, losing his hunger. And you know what happened that next season? The Patriots didn't even make this playoffs. And for the first time in his career, Tom Brady experienced losing, and he didn't like it. And he got his hunger back. And the rest is history. He is arguably the best football player who's ever played the game. I know you Colts fans disagree, but that's OK. You're a little blind, but that's OK. I'll forgive you. He is arguably the best. And let me tell you why. He got his hunger back. People, what a picture of us. Every one of you that are saved, you've experienced, even you young people, you've experienced what it is to lose, to give in to sin. And if you're a right kind of Christian, it ought to bother you. It ought to make you all more hungry. I hate my sin. And the more you grow Christian-wise, the more you grow in this athletic event called Christianity, the more upset you get with losing. You're just like Tom Brady, and it should cause you to get your hunger back. My friend, the greatest drive in your life is just being hungry to grow as a Christian. And this comes right after that very famous verse 10 in chapter 3 where Paul says, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable unto his death. Paul had a drive, people. He had a drive. Even as a 60-some year old, he had a drive. I'm not satisfied and nobody in this room ought to be satisfied with Uriah spiritually. There ought to be a hunger that drives you, that drives you to know your Bible better, to know your Christianity better, to be better for the Lord. There ought to be a drive in your life, my friend, and if there's not, you need to get on your knees and confess that and ask the Lord to give you, as David said, restore unto me, Lord, the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. You know what that willing spirit means? Drive. Just wanting to know the Lord better. Every one of us should be like that, amen? Every one of us. I want to get better at this event called Christianity. So when I make up my mind to do that, the next principle is a natural. Would you look at your Bible? Let me show it to you. Again, you're going to see the word twice, okay? Let me show it to you. Verse number 12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I, next two words out loud, congregation, go ahead. good the three of you, follow after. Okay, that's one, the word follow after is one Greek word. Let me show you the same word again. Jump down to verse 14, where Paul says, get ready now, get ready. Verse 14, are you there congregation? Verse 14, I, what? Press, same word. Follow after press, same word. Let me tell you what that word means. Oh, you're not going to like this. Christians never like messages on follow after and press. You know what it really means? It really means discipline. Discipline. Please understand that God tells you through the Apostle Paul, you cannot be godly without discipline. What is discipline? Your ability to say no to what you should say no to, and yes to what you should say yes to. And may I remind all of us here tonight that a world-class athlete, oh people you have no idea, A world-class athlete is so very, very careful about what they let in their life. Let me give you some examples. Coming back to Tom Brady, I don't know if you know this, but Tom Brady, I know he's retired now, but when he was a player, those many, many years, and he was still playing at the age of 44, When he was playing, he was absolutely idolized and looked up to by all of his teammates because he was absolutely, incredibly disciplined, even during the off-season. I'll give you an example. He was never and still is never out of bed past nine o'clock in the evening, even during off-season. He was always the first one in the workout room, even during off-season, even when he was on vacation. I read an episode recently where he was invited to be part of one of these celebrity golf tournaments on TV. It was in the summer. And he showed up at the golf course. And before he got his clubs out, he started doing wind sprints in the parking lot. And Charles Barkley walked up to him and said, what in the world are you doing? And Tom Brady said, well, I'm getting ready for the next Super Bowl. He was absolutely, incredibly disciplined. He will not, when he turned 30, he wanted to keep playing, so he took sugar completely out of his diet, white flour completely out of his diet. He will not eat tomatoes because he thinks it hinders his recovery, his muscle recovery. He will not eat ice cream unless it's made out of avocado. He's got his own private chef. He is very, very, by the way, Russell Wilson is the same way. These top of the heap athletes, LeBron James is the same way. They're very, very careful about what kind of diet, what they allow in their lives. They're very careful about their workout routine, and they never let themselves get out of that routine. Folks, I personally like athletics. You can tell that. I'm a long distance runner. I ran three miles today. Now that I'm getting older, I just do three a day. But I'm often asked by people, oh, Mike, you must love running. And the honest answer is, no, I don't. I hate it. But I love what it does to me. I love the pounds that it helps to keep off. I love the fact that I'm able to have a lot of wind, a lot of hot air, so I can play trumpet and preach at the same time. I like what it does to me. So I like the results. I don't necessarily like the process. Folks, that's discipline. And how much more notorious are you to be for your discipline because you're very careful. God says you can't be godly without discipline. Folks, it takes discipline to be here on a Tuesday night. You're to be commended. It takes discipline to be here every time the doors are open. It takes discipline to have your devotions every day. It takes discipline to memorize the Word of God. I had a good friend who for one year, he was retired, he was in his 60s, and for one year, he read the Bible through once a month. Read it 12 times in a year. Folks, that takes a lot of discipline. But But please understand tonight, you can't be godly without discipline. It is very, very important in your life. You ought to be very careful about what you watch, what you listen to, who you hang around, the kind of stuff that you do, the kind of vocabulary that you use. Folks, we have all been called to be very disciplined. And Paul tells you, I'm disciplined. I've got a hunger. I've got a drive. I want to get better. And I realize I'm going to press. I'm going to follow after. I want to do right. I'm going to be careful what I let in my life. Friends, what a lesson for the rest of us. We should be very, very careful about our diet, spiritually. Very careful about what we let in our lives. I don't know if you know this. But PG&E, I don't know if you've ever heard that across before, PG&E, but it stands for Pacific Gas and Electric. It's the number one power company of California. They found near Hinkley, California, which is down south, pretty close to Las Vegas, but back in the 50s, PG&E found a huge reservoir underground of natural gas near Hinkley, California. They immediately started mining it, and it was just a fortune that they were able to make. And they wanted to ship it, and they thought the best way to ship it, and they were right, was to build a pipeline all through California so they didn't have to truck it, they could just pipe it. So they built this long, thousand mile long pipe, and in order to have them maintain the power to pipe all that gas, they had these huge generators These generators would overheat if they didn't have a radiator, so they had radiators on all these pumps, and these radiators would, of course, contain water. But they found out very quickly that that water would rust out the generator and be a very expensive repair. So chemists came up with an idea that if they added some kind of chromium additive, it would cause that water to not rust. but it also would taint that water. It couldn't be used. And so they were dumping it for years. They were dumping it in a reservoir there near Hinkley, California. Well, it was discovered that in Hinkley, California, it was a small little town, but there was an abnormal, abnormal occurrence of cancer and deformity. They had frogs being born with being hatched with two heads and snakes with two heads and I mean just, you know, cats with double paws and just a huge inordinate amount of deformity even in humans. And so they studied and studied and here's what they found out. They found out that because PG&E was dumping that tainted water into, it was seeping down and getting into their drinking water, the water that the town was using. There was a huge lawsuit, maybe some of you know this, there was a huge lawsuit. And the court demanded under the power of a jury, they awarded the members, the citizens of Hinkley, California, with $666 million that PG&E had to pay to the occupants of that small little town. But I share that with you because as I stand in front of a congregation, I see a lot of sickness. I think we've got in Christianity a lot of sick Christians because of what is in their diet. Coming in here, you've been listening to the wrong kinds of music all day, been watching the wrong kinds of stuff, whether it's soap operas or all the junk that's on TV or on the internet. And I believe with all my heart that our churches are so very, very sick because we're not very disciplined. God doesn't want you drinking that stuff. And folks, it takes a lot of discipline. You need to grow up and realize, because of your drive, no, I'm not going to let that in my life. I want to get better at this thing called Christianity. I can't help it. I'm a Christian right with God. And that's always the natural reflex of a man and a woman who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. I sure could appreciate an amen right now. I hope this is getting to you. Let's look at the third thing, OK? Look at verse number 13. Verse number 13. Now watch this, I'm gonna have you say a word out loud, okay, congregation? Everybody with me, are you glad you're here? Would you look at your neighbor and say, I'm glad I'm here. That was cool, that was so cool. All right, verse 13, everybody there watch this. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, next word. Forgetting, would you look at me please? Now this is just that one occurrence of this word, okay, so this is not a couplet. But every people, every great athlete, every great athlete, no matter what the sport, tennis, golf, basketball, football, whatever, every great athlete is a good forgetter. I like to watch tennis on TV and the commentators, because the commentators are often coaches, like John McEnroe. They talk about the fact that in tennis, they're always telling their students, forget the last shot. You blew it, yeah, you hit it out of bounds, you hit it in the net, just forget it, be a good forgetter. They always talk in football, forget the last play. They always talk in basketball, forget the last shot. Forget it, you gotta be a good forgetter, because it's gonna rob you of your confidence. And friends, I share this with you tonight because you would be amazed at all the Christians, I might be looking at some, who don't do anything for Jesus Christ because of a bad experience in their history, and they have never, ever forgotten it. Your memory, if you're not careful, can cause paralysis. Can cause paralysis. God says forget it. I know some of you might have wicked pasts or whatever. The Bible's saying forget it. Folks, every great athlete's like that. They're always good at forgetting. And that is so very important for a Christian to grab onto. We need to be good forgetters. We've all got stuff in our past that we'd be embarrassed about. But we need to remember and remind ourselves it's under the blood, it's under the cross, it's been forgiven, and focus on what's ahead. A number of years ago, I was watching the Celtics. And they got into a playoff series with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers had a Hall of Fame guard. He's now in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps you've heard of him. His name was Allen Iverson. Allen Iverson was a shooting guard. And he was the kind of player that never saw a shot he didn't like. He was very ball-centric. He was very much a ball hog. But he was a phenomenal player. And he's the reason that the Sixers were so good and the reason they were in the playoffs. Well, he came to the Boston Garden. in one of their playoff games, and he came out, and Allen Iverson, everything he shot was what they call in basketball, a brick. Clang, clang, clang, nothing would drop for him. Clang, miss, miss, after miss, after miss, after miss, after miss, after miss. I mean, it was wonderful for the Celtics, and the Celtics killed him in that game. And as a Celtics fan, I was very happy. But they put a microphone in Allen Iverson's face after the game, and Mr. Iverson, what was the problem tonight? And all he would say over and over and over again, Wait till the next game. Wait till the next game. But Mr. Iverson, you stunk. Wait till the next game. Did you have a bad pizza? Wait till the next game. Did your girlfriend break up with you? Wait till the next game. Did your dog bite you? Wait till the next game. That's all he would say. They were kind of frustrated with him and finally gave up. Well, I watched the next game. It was in Philadelphia at the Spectrum. And Allen Iverson came out, and he shot the lights out, and they killed the Celtics that night. Folks, what a picture of you. Every one of us should be very much what's next. Forget the past. Folks, let's talk about our past for a moment. I realize that your past has failures, but your past also has victories. There are trophies. There are people that you've led to the Lord. We've all got good stuff in our past. We've all got bad stuff in our past. And understand, the Bible's saying, forget it. It's good to have that memory, but forget it. It's all about you got more game. Folks, Christians, I don't care how old you are, if you're still breathing, you got more game. And God wants your focus on, I got more game. It's always not what I've done, but what I can do. That's the Christian's perspective. I get a little bit humored, if I could use that word, when I come to some churches. Yours is not one of them. But I'll go to some churches and some retiree will come up to me and put his arm around me and say, oh, Brother Mike, you should have been here 20 years ago. Our parking lot was full of buses. We had a Christian school. I mean, it was Camelot around here. Folks, can I just be honest with you? I don't say this to, I don't want to be mean, but I could care less. I don't care what your history is, nor do you. Our focus should be, we've got more ministry. We've got more to do. We got more game. Folks, every one of you should have a focus. We've got more game. What more can I do for you, Lord? What more can I do? How can I serve? Folks, we've got more game. Forget the past. I'm glad we've got good stuff in the past. We've got bad stuff in the past. The Bible says forget it. It's not about the past. It's all about forward. Look forward. Forget the past. All right? You with me? Everybody, you with me? Now, let me show you the fourth one. We've looked at three. Let me show you the fourth one, and I'm so glad we got here because it's my favorite. Okay? Watch this, would you? Verse 14. Verse 14, it says, I press toward the, what church? Mark. There's that focus on the front, the mark. That word mark is a Greek word, scopos. We get our word scope for a rifle from that. It means to pinpoint and to watch something very carefully. Okay, so we mark now. Let me show you the word again. Jump down to verse 17. Verse number 17. Brethren, be followers together of me and, what church? same word mark them who mark them which walk or live as ye have us for an example would you look at me folks what paul is telling you is a phenomenon that you often see in a teenager's life have you ever known a teenager and had the courage to go into their room And you knew that that teenager, whether it's a girl or a guy, you knew they were really into sports. Maybe she just loves soccer, maybe he loves basketball, maybe he loves football, whatever. They're playing athletic sports, they're playing athletics in their school, or maybe their home school, but the public school allows them to participate in their sports program. There are some states that allow that, I don't know about Indiana. But anyway, my point is this. You go into a teenager's room that's really into some kind of sport. What invariably, people, what invariably do you see on their bedroom wall? Posters. Posters. Is that weird? No. Why do they have a poster on the wall? Because they're kind of marking. They're marking that athlete. I want to be like that. I remember when I was in high school. I went to a store. It was like a Walmart, but it wasn't a Walmart. And this is in the Seattle area. And I was a big Seattle Supersonic fan. In fact, for my 12th birthday, my parents took me to a game. I loved the Seattle Supersonic. Now, you don't know who they are, because they became communists and moved to Oklahoma City. But I was a big Seattle Supersonic fan. And I remember going into a store like Walmart and looking at the posters. Now, don't do that anymore, guys, because it's pornography. But back in the 70s, it wasn't. And I was looking through all these posters and boom! There was a big 3 foot by 2 foot poster of my favorite Sonic. His name was Spencer Haywood. Spencer Haywood was a 6 foot 10 inch power forward and he had what they called in basketball a beautiful jump shot. And the photographer had snapped this photo just at the right precise moment where Spencer Haywood had the ball in the corner of the court at Key Arena where they played and he's way up here, he's elevated, he's high in the air, he's got the ball in his fingertips, he's got perfect form, his elbows lined up with the rim, and he's all stretched out, just about to release that ball. He had just a beautiful, beautiful jump shot. Just perfect form. I immediately grabbed that poster and shoplifted it. No, I didn't. I bought it, and I went home, and I put it up on my bedroom wall, and folks, I had every centimeter of that poster memorized. It was up there for years, a good two years. I would go out to the driveway and I would try to mimic that poster. Now, I didn't come in close because I'm white, but I did my best. I did my best. I tried to get out there and look just like Spencer Haywood. I really did. By the way, in case you might be interested, let me tell you what happened to that poster. It was the very first thing that got packed when I went off to college. The very first thing I unpacked when I got to college. I put it up in my dorm room and it stayed up there all year. My roommates loved it. At the end of the school year, my hall monitor, who had turned down a basketball scholarship to come to Bob Jones University to study for the ministry, came into my room. He was a good friend of mine. He looked out for me. He got me out of so much trouble. And he asked me, he said, Mike, what are you going to do with that poster? Folks, I felt obligated. He had gotten me out of a whole lot of demerits. I should have been shipped, and all because of Lee. He really saved my fanny. And I said, Lee, you can have it, and he took it. took it. But friends, I share that with you because let me drive this home. What Paul is telling you under inspiration of heaven is that every one of you should have posters in your mind, posters in your spiritual mind of people that you would like to be like, that you would like to mimic spiritually. And Paul says, could I be one of them? Could I be one of them? Paul says. Could I be one of your posters? Mark them with chalk as you have us for an example. Mark them. Watch me. Be like me. Folks, what would you think if your pastor on Sunday said, you know, my wife and I have, Kelly and I have been praying about this for several months now. We're a little bit troubled by the lifestyle that we see a lot of you living here in your Christianity. And so we've gone through the church directory. and we've assigned every one of you one month where you're gonna come and live with us and just see how we act, how we have our devotions, what we watch on TV, what we have in our refrigerator, what we don't have in our refrigerator, how we have our devotions, how we treat each other, so that you can be just like us. Not one of you would put up with that. Who does he think he is? Wow. I wouldn't mind being like her, but definitely not him. Who do they think they are? You know, friends, do you understand? That's exactly what Paul is saying. Paul said, be like me. Watch me. What do you know about me? Well, folks, what do you know about the apostle? What would the apostle Paul be like? Would you chew on this? What would he be like if he lived where you lived? Do you think your neighbors would have heard about Jesus by now? Oh yeah. Do you think he'd love this church? Do you think he'd love what's going on tonight? Do you think he'd be here? Oh yeah, he'd be the loudest amen in the room. Do you think your workmates, your schoolmates would have heard about the Lord Jesus Christ by now? Do you think he'd be kind of aggressive for the Lord? Oh yeah, you would be. I want all of you to understand something. That's God's will for you. That's the way God wants you to be. Have posters on the walls of your mind. By the way, that's one of the reasons that God made the qualifications of being a pastor or a deacon so high, because by virtue of their position, they are poster material. And you don't mind that. That's why you did your research on who you called, and you made sure you did your homework. That's a good thing, because whoever stands behind that sacred desk is, by virtue of their position, poster material, and you deacons are poster material. Boy, that's sobering, isn't it? But God wants every one of you to have posters in your mind of people that you would, I'd like to be like that someday. You should have heroes. That's a good thing, folks. It's a good thing to watch an elder and may it remind all of you, you're being watched. You're being watched. But I wonder how many of us here tonight are like a big shot athlete I heard about. I want to share this with you. This is absolutely true. You're not going to believe it. My father-in-law, who's with the Lord now, was a PR man, a public relations man for a number of years for a very large, well-to-do boys' home in South Carolina. This boys' home was well-to-do because they had a lot of millionaire givers who would support the ministry. It was a very successful boys' home for troubled teens. My father-in-law was responsible for raising funds and It was his job every year to organize a banquet. They had it once a year. A big banquet where all these big givers would come in and my father-in-law would line up the food and all the intricacies, all the delicacies, and he would also line up the speaker. And he always tried to get a believer to be the speaker or somebody with good character. But my father-in-law had taught for years journalism in California, and by virtue of that, had become friends with Tommy Lasorda. Tommy Lasorda, for those of you not familiar with that name, it's been on your TV a whole lot. He was the manager of the world champion Dodgers for years. Very well-known baseball player. He passed away about two years ago. Well, my father-in-law knew him personally, and so my father-in-law got the idea, maybe I could get Tommy Lasorda to be our speaker. Now, Tommy Lasorda is not a believer. He wasn't a believer, but he had good character. So my father-in-law called him and he said, Tommy, this is Bob Nestor. He said, Tommy, we cannot afford to fly you, but I know that your mother lives here in Greenville, South Carolina. And I'm wondering if you could coincide a visit with your mother, because he would often visit his mom in Greenville. Could you coincide that with being a speaker for our banquet? Tommy said, Bob wins a banquet. Bob gave him the date, and Tommy said, Bob, let's do it. That's perfect. Let's do it. And so Tommy Lasorda, on his own dime, flew to Greenville, South Carolina. My father-in-law picked him up at the airport. They made a beeline to the banquet. They had the banquet, and Tommy Lasorda got up to speak. And folks, let me tell you what he shared with that congregation. He stood up there, and this is what he said. He said, ladies and gentlemen, When I was in sixth grade, I went to a public school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and I became a crossing guard. I hated it. I had to stand out there in the sun, snow, rain, fog, cold, wind, helping these snot-nosed kids. That's exactly what he said. Helping these snot-nosed kids across the crosswalk. I hated it. But I did it all year because I knew the reward was we got to go to a professional Philadelphia baseball game, and I loved it. baseball. He said that award came and they went to the game and back then, we're probably talking the 40s, back then they used to let kids stand in the hallway where the players would come on and off the field and get autographs. Tommy said, I got a brand new pad of paper, a nice sharp pencil. He said, I got the autographs of a couple people, but there was one autograph I wanted to get of a big shot slugger. He wouldn't say who it was. It may have been Beiruth. He said, I wanted to get the Big Shot slugger. So he said, I waited until the end of the game. I left the game early. That's hard for a sixth grader. I left the game early so I could get a good spot in the tunnel. I was standing there, and I waited, and I waited, and I waited, and players came off the field. And then all of a sudden, Mr. Big Shot came. And Tommy said, I stepped out in front of him, and I said, please, sir, can I have your autograph? And Mr. Big Shot took his hand and shoved little Tommy out of the way and said, get out of my way, kid. I don't have time for that right now. Tommy said. I was crushed. That hurt. About eight years later, Tommy Lasorda was this hot little rookie pitcher pitching one of his first Major League Baseball games. He's on the pitcher's mound, and who should step up to bat? Mr. Big Shot. Had no idea who this little rookie pitcher was. Tommy said, I got the signals from my catcher. Now, Tommy's left-handed. I'm right-handed, so this is backwards. But Tommy said, I got the signals from my catcher. I wound up, and I threw a fastball for his head. Mr. Big Shot hit the dirt, got back up, got ready for pitch number two. Tommy said, I got the signals. I threw another what they call a heater, a fastball for his head, four heaters in a row. Mr. Big Shot got to take his base. Every time Mr. Big Shot got up to bat, Tommy said, I threw nothing but fastballs for his head. After the game was over, Mr. Big Shot came up to this rookie and said, son, What in the world is your problem? What did I ever do to you? And Tommy said, I looked at him and I said, buddy, years ago, you didn't have time for me. And today I didn't have time for you. And Tommy went on and said this, people. He said, when I became the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, every spring I would sit all my new ballplayers down in a room and I would tell them that story and I would finish with this. You are now a Dodger. I am your manager. And as long as you're on my team, You will take time for the fan. They are the reason you're even here. You will take time for the fan as long as I'm the manager of this team. I got to go see. The Dodgers played one time at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where they played the Chicago Cubs. I was with a guy who had played minor league for the Cubs. The two of us were standing, and as is custom in baseball, the home team came out to warm up first. The Cubs came out. My friend I was standing with knew a lot of the players personally. He kept calling out to the first baseman, Gracie, Gracie, Gracie. It's Brent. It's Brent. Gracie, Gracie. They did nothing but ignore us. They were so stuck up. They left the field, and out came the Dodgers. I watched Oral Herschizer sneak up behind Timer to sort of grab his ball cap and throw it to a fan who was asking for it in the stands. They were friendly. They interacted with us. They were fun. And I am happy to announce, church, that the Dodgers won that game. But I share that story with you because I wonder how many of you, including me, sometimes we get stuck up. It's my life. If I want to drink it, I'm going to drink it. I don't care who watches, what people think. If I want to listen to it, if I like it, I'm going to listen to it. I don't care what anybody else thinks. If I want to miss church, I'm going to miss it. It's my life. Back off. It's my life. I'm going to do what I want. You arrogant, self-centered, so not what Jesus Christ wants, Christian. Every one of you, folks, should endeavor and should desire to be poster material. Every one of you. And let me tell you why. You're to provoke one another into loving good works. You're being watched. Oh, listen to this. You retirees, I guarantee you there are young couples watching you. Oh, so that's what a couple's like that loves Jesus Christ and has discretionary time and can serve Jesus. I want to be like that someday. Those of you that are married, I guarantee you there are single adults and young people watching you. Oh, so that's what a Christian marriage is like. I want to be like that someday. Those of you that are single, I guarantee you there are teens watching you. Oh, so that's what a young college student's like, a young professional's like that can live for the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be like that someday. You teenagers, I guarantee you there are elementary young people watching you. Oh, so that's what a teenager's like that loves Jesus Christ. I want to be like that. Every one of you should be like that. Every one of you should desire to be poster material. What a challenge. Folks, what a metaphor. Every one of you should be hungry. I'm not satisfied with where I'm at spiritually. Every one of us should be notorious for our discipline, so we're very careful about what we let in our lives. We're very careful about our activity. We want to be spiritually healthy. We want to be spiritually on top of our game. And every one of you should be a good forgetter. It's all about what are you gonna do next? You still have more game. Are you breathing air? You still have more game. Let your focus be on what you forget what's behind. And may you be the right kind of example. God wants every one of you to be post material. Amen? Would you bow your heads please? Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, what a fun passage, but what a convicting passage. And God, I pray for this church. Lord, how desperately does it need posters where people who are shallow or new converts or haven't grown yet can look and learn and imitate to mimic. Lord, what a challenge. And God, I do pray that there would be a desire to grow in every heart that's here tonight. Lord, help us not to be satisfied. Lord, that's a dangerous, dangerous position. Help us not to be satisfied with what we've done, with where we're at spiritually, but we want to grow. We want to get better at this game called Christianity. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. I wonder if you're here tonight and you're sitting there saying, Mike, I needed this. I'm so glad I came tonight. I needed this. I realized I've got some work to do. I need to change my focus a little bit, and I'm sitting here convicted, Mike. Would you please pray for me in closing? God has touched my heart tonight. Here's my hand. Would you quietly slip it up high enough that I could see it? I would love to pray for you. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. Many hands. God bless you. Let's stand. Could we please, congregation, before I pray? Let's stand. Dear Heavenly Father, I've seen some hands. It tells me that you've been working. Lord, I have no idea what's going on in those hearts, but you do. And I pray that every hand raiser and those who didn't raise their hand but should have would meet you where you need to be met. Lord, I pray that you would fill these believers with a desire to know you better. But that's kind of part of that new nature, that new closet that we talked about last night. And Lord, I do pray that you would fill this church with giants, great, great athletes that are not satisfied with how many trophies they've got and not worried about their past, but they want more. Lord, may that be our desire tonight. In Jesus' name I ask it and all God's people said. Amen. Amen. Pastor.