Special topic: Running to Win- (Introduction) 2 Cor. 5:17; Romans 8:1; Phil. 2:12-13; Romans 12:1-2)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, October 6, 2024

Chuck Swindoll shares:

Sometimes it is very hard to keep on when we do not seem to be getting anywhere. When Thomas Carlyle had finished the first volume of his book, The French Revolution, he gave the finished manuscript to his friend John Stuart Mill and asked him to read it. It took Mr. Mill several days to read it and as he read, he realized that it was truly a great literary achievement. Late one night as he finished the last page he laid the manuscript aside by his chair in the den of his home. The next morning the maid came; seeing those papers on the floor, she thought they were simply discarded. She threw them into the fire, and they were burned.

On March 6, 1835—he never forgot the date—Mill called on Carlyle in deep agony and told him that his work has been destroyed. Carlyle replied, “It’s all right. I’m sure I can start over in the morning and do it again.”

Finally, after great apologies, John Mill left and started back home. Carlyle watched his friend walking away and said to his wife, “Poor Mill. I feel so sorry for him. I did not want him to see how crushed I really am.”

Then heaving a sigh, he said, “Well, the manuscript is gone, so I had better start writing again.”

It was a long, hard process especially because the inspiration was gone. It is always hard to recapture the verve and the vigor if a man has to do a thing like that twice. But he set out to do it again and finally completed the work.

Thomas Carlyle walked away from disappointment. He could do nothing about a manuscript that was burned up. So it is with us: There are times to get up and get going and let what happened happen.^[1]

How do we press on?

How do we keep moving when things are difficult?

How do we persevere?

How do we finish well?

Today, I want to begin a new sermon series, which I am calling “Running to Win.”

When I was in my twenties, I realized there were traits in my family history that I did not want to emulate. I might have recognized that earlier than my twenties, but I definitely recognized that by my twenties. As an example, I remember being a young child, and every time my parents took me to a relative’s house, the husband and wife were always yelling at each other. Now, some forty years later, if we go to that relative’s adult son’s house, he is always arguing with his wife. They are now well over sixty years old, married a long time, but emulating his parents’ behavior. How do we run to win? How do we prevent emulating those things? How do we persevere through the Christian life?

Today, I am introducing a sermon series on this subject. It is a discipleship subject.

My theme today is: We are new in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Romans 8:9 (ESV)

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

We will come back to those passages. First, what am I talking about?

1. Generational traps:
   1. There can be generational traps…
   2. These are things in which the enemy uses what is already there
   3. The enemy, the devil and his minions may think, “This is what did grandpa in… this is what did uncle in… I wonder if this will work on Steve.”
   4. Maybe all the males are extremely passive… it may not be something crazy, it could be alcoholism, but maybe not. It could be workaholism.
   5. The enemy sets traps for the next generation.
   6. Now, the Bible addresses this.
   7. 34:7-7 and Deut 5:8-10 talks about the consequence of sin going to the 3^rd and 4^th generation (also, Lev 26:39).
   8. Then again, Deut. 24:16 says that fathers should not be put to death for their children or children for their fathers.
   9. It seems to me that children end up committing similar sins as their parents. It just happens. A child observes certain sins in his parents and ends up copying them.
   10. I think these generational sins, or traps, exist. They can be forgiven and prevented in Christ.
   11. I just mentioned a few:
   12. Alcoholism, drug abuse, but how about other things? I mentioned men who are passive. Is that a sin?
   13. These are not all necessarily sin issues, but they can lead to sin.
   14. What about workaholism? Is that a sin? It can be if the job is an idol and one neglects one’s family.
   15. Maybe your dad, mom, or grandparents were (or are) gossips. Do you want to be that way?
   16. Maybe your dad, mom, or grandparents were (or are) always angry. Do you want to be that way?
   17. Maybe your dad, mom, or grandparents were (or are) always wanting more stuff. Do you want to be that way?
   18. Maybe your dad, mom, or grandparents were (or are) always negative, always critical, never joyful, or positive. Do you want to be that way?
   19. Of course, those are not the big sin issues that we talk about, are they? But they are biblical issues.
   20. What about another one- Maybe your dad, mom, or grandparents were (or are) emotionally unavailable. All the conversations were surface-level. Do you want to be that way?
   21. Healthy leaders grieve well. I recommend the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.
   22. Maybe depression and anxiety is in your family history. That may or may not be a sin issue, but maybe we can get help.
   23. I know people who live with depression even though they have tried to get help. It is like it is their cross to bear. That may be the case.
   24. I know others who live with depression because they refuse to get help.
   25. I believe God wants us to be humble enough to work on these things. We may NOT be healed, but we can get help.
2. Our brains and bodies are complex and created by God in amazing ways.
   1. Our bodies have mirror neurons.
   2. The following comes from Dr. Thompson. He is a Christian psychiatrist, and Malone graduate. He wrote: “Anatomy of the Soul.”
   3. One writes:
   4. One system of particular interest to researchers in the last ten years is that of mirror neurons, which leads to mimicry. Virtually all intentional human behavior is ultimately mimicked. When we learn how to hold a fork or express a look of surprise, mimicry is involved. The mirror neurons fire when we witness another human undertake a behavior that has distinct intention. This system prepares the identical motor neurons in our brains to fire. For instance, if I see someone pick up a cup to drink from it, my mirror neurons will fire, preparing the “mirrored” neurons responsible for picking up and drinking from a cup to fire.
   5. This has important implications for actions such as empathy. Empathy can be described as an action rather than merely a feeling alone because we demonstrate empathy through nonverbal and verbal cues or actions that project the intent of connecting with another’s state of mind. When a child is the subject of another’s empathy, he or she will likely undergo the activation of his or her mirror neuron system related to empathy. In other words, children learn how to be empathic with others by seeing it demonstrated toward them.
   6. This mirror neuron system is one of many that are vital in regulating how we interact both within our own minds and in relationship with others.
   7. The more we understand the role of such systems, the more actively we can regulate them. For example, if I am aware that my fear is deeply connected to my breathing and heart rate, I can reduce my fear simply by consciously breathing deeply and slowly whenever I sense myself becoming fearful.[2]
   8. Why is that important? Sometimes our behaviors, actions, and things we deal with are rooted in our childhood, genetics or both. But what is important is our brain literally does change based off of those around us.
   9. The same writer shares:
   10. How much influence do your genes have on your brain? If one of your parents had depression and you suffer from depression, will your children be more vulnerable to becoming depressed? Is it a “simple” issue of genetic inheritance, in the same way your eye color is? What is both complex and amazing about the mind is how it emerges under the influence of what neuroscientists call epigenetics. Simply put, this means that gene expression is influenced—turned on and off, accelerated and slowed—by experience. For example, some people may have a genetic predisposition for being more anxious than other people. But if their parents are deeply attuned to their emotional temperaments, the genes that turn on their children’s anxiety response will tend to be quieted, and they’re more likely to develop a sanguine approach to life. On the other hand, if their parents behave anxiously, they may activate the genes that encourage anxiety to emerge, even in the most benign circumstances.[3]
   11. We often talk about the left brain being more about facts and logic, while the right brain is about creativity and emotions. What is interesting is we need both.
   12. Thompson shares that if someone shows empathy to another the right brains are connecting with each other.
   13. Further, we are emotional people.
   14. Emotion is not debatable. If your daughter senses the feeling of joy, shame, disappointment, or some general form of distress, that is in fact what she feels. She may not easily have words for the affect, but she does sense it. If she cries because she was cut from the basketball squad, there’s no sense in telling her, “You shouldn’t be sad about not making the team. Lots of people were cut.” And it would be very counterproductive to say, “Enough of the crying already! I might expect that from your four-year-old sister, but not from you.” This would shame her for expressing the emotion she senses.[4]
   15. What is most interesting is that from a very early age, infancy, we have attachment that is instilled in us.
   16. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the British researcher John Bowlby began developing the attachment theory. His book Attachment was the first of several groundbreaking works in this area. He explored the formation of close emotional bonds between infants and toddlers and their primary caregivers, usually their mothers, and the effect on those children when those bonds were prematurely broken. Many of his initial observations were based on the outcomes of children who had been separated from their parents during World War II.
   17. 4 types of attachment were identified:
   18. Secure attachment
   19. Insecure attachment—avoidant
   20. Insecure attachment—ambivalent/anxious
   21. Insecure attachment—disorganized
   22. There is much written on these, but I wish to summarize them:[5]
   23. He continues to give excellent information on attachment.
   24. Now, I just gave a lot of information on the brain.
   25. Why?
   26. I wanted to show that the emotional connections matter.
   27. Further, I wanted to show that our brains are always developing.
   28. Also, can they be healed? Yes, Dr. Thompson says that they can be healed through the neural pathways changing.
   29. Remember, in empathy, our right brains connect with another’s.
   30. Thompson writes:
   31. Scripture is primarily—among other things—a story. From Genesis to Revelation it is the story of God’s desire and practice to be with us, culminating in the life of Jesus. God is present with us. But not merely “with us” physically. He is that to be sure, and even closer, in the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, God comes not simply to be in the same room, but rather to walk right up to us, look us in the eye, touch us on the shoulder, and speak our names out loud, smile, and share a drink with us, all the while engaging, persuading, challenging, inviting, convicting, and empowering each of us, loving us into new creation. And in the process, our neural networks are changed.
   32. Healthy attachment, as we know, emerges from contingent communication, in which two individuals, through both their spoken dialogue and nonverbal cues, each affirm the other as they interact. This reflects the postulate that there is no such thing as an individual brain. In orthodox creedal life, followers of Jesus contend that God is a triune social being. There is a Father. There is a Son. There is a Spirit.
   33. Therefore, within the life of God there is no single “brain.” Within the Godhead, God has made perfect sense of his life, if you will. His own communal life is one of contingent communication.[6]
   34. Through Christ, His church, His community, spiritual disciplines, and godly counsel we can get help. Some may need medication also.
   35. My challenge and exhortation is to be willing to walk through this.
   36. A lady was walking her dog, and the dog was trying to get away from the leash. But every time the dog pulled away, the lady would yank it, pulling the dog back, and the animal couldn’t get free. The leash held it hostage, kept it bound, and unable to break away. He couldn’t break the chain.
   37. Many of us today find ourselves held hostage by a leash. The links on the chain are many. There is the link of anger, the link of bitterness, the link of resentment, and the link of revenge. But no matter how many links are in the chain, they all boil down to one thing, unforgiveness.[7]

• How will I address these subjects?
  1. I am not addressing each subject individually.
  2. I am discussing Christian behaviors, traits, and disciplines that will help.
  3. First, humility. We will not grow without humility. Can people close to us approach us regarding concerns? Are we approachable? Are we teachable?
  4. The second is perseverance. Do we recognize we have to persevere through the Christian life?
  5. Thirdly, spiritual warfare- this is a spiritual battle.
  6. We will talk about other things like being thankful and accountability.

1. We are new in Christ.
   1. Let’s come back to the Scriptures I began with.
   2. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
   3. Romans 8:9 (ESV) ⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
   4. When we are Christians, we belong to Christ. We are never alone. We have the Holy Spirit. A few weeks ago, I shared an illustration I heard: when we buy items that need batteries, it will say, “Batteries included.” When we become a Christian, the Holy Spirit is included. You are not alone.
   5. The Bible says we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) through Him Who loved us.
   6. You can do this.

God wants to help us finish well. God wants to help us run to win.

Together, let’s run to win!

Prayer

^[1] William Barclay, The King and the Kingdom; Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 441.

[2] Thompson M.D., Curt. Anatomy of the Soul: Surprising Connections between Neuroscience and Spiritual Practices That Can Transform Your Life and Relationships (pp. 42-43). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

[3] Ibid. p. 46.

[4] Ibid. pp. 95-96.

[5] Ibid. excerpts from pp 113-131

[6] Ibid. p. 139

[7] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 335.