Finishing Strong – The Finishing Kick

Dr. J. Robert Clinton, professor of leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, estimates that only 30% of leaders in the Bible finished well. Only one in three biblical leaders fully cooperated with God over the long haul and experienced the corresponding results in ministry. Only a handful earned the right to echo Paul’s words, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7)

At Mavuno, the home of the Fearless, our desire for you is to get to the end of each season of your life strong – to finish strong. You were made to finish honorably, with dignity and with strength. Life will happen but even when it does happen – your portion is to finish strong. You will get to the end of the year, of the season, of the assignment with dignity, purpose and in a way that honors God. This has been the focus of the series this month.

You started the year and have been slogging away and it feels like you have been holding your breath and now you are in the words of Whitney you are “waiting to exhale”

I started with so many hopes but my dream hasn’t happened yet. I set out to occupy in my relationships, work or business. I feel that I am still where I started.

Or its going well so far this year but I want to be ready for the next level

We believe you have been blessed and God has given you great insights that will help you finish strong. We want to spend some time recapping what we’ve learnt this month. It is our desire that you will finish strong and to one day be able to say like Paul ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race‘.

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Marathon took place. Like almost any marathon in the world, it would have been incomplete without Kenyans! And true to form, it ended up being a Kenyan double – meaning we won the women’s and the men’s. What was very exciting about it was to look at the last 40 minutes of both marathons. The ladies marathon was particularly interesting. The race was dominated by two Ethiopians. For the most part Prisca Jeptoo was in a pack of the rest just running in her characteristic way. Jeptoo finished the winner. But it’s not how she started. It’s not even how she ran in the middle but how she finished that makes her a hero.

This month we have been looking at what it takes to finish strong

1. God Can Turn Your Past Into A Present For Your Future

Forgetting doesn’t mean amnesia or avoiding. It simply means evaluating the past in light of God’s future for you. It means building a healthy relationship between your past, present and future.

It means letting everything be overshadowed, and become pale when it is set against Jesus.

To use Paul’s words he said in v.8

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 

2. I May Not Know What The Future Holds But I Know Who Holds The Future!

As Christians we have a word for putting God at the centre as we embrace what is unknown in our future – that word is faith. If the future is what is unseen, obscured, and not clear – then as a Christian I am to look out for it, to get a hold of what God wants me to have.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

It is a fundamental part of our relationship with Jesus to entrust our future to him.

Paul is teaching us in this in these verses;

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead

3. Every Great Goal Requires Great Sacrifice

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

– Press on to find out and use your spiritual gifts

– Press on to set right those things which you have a passion for

– Press on to use your abilities to glorify God

– Press on to make your personality count for something in God’s community

– Press on to make your past and present experiences both good and bad to count for God’s kingdom.

We do not press on aimlessly. We have something that focuses us. It is simply this – that God wants us to live a purposeful life here and also to spend eternity with him.

Focus on for God’s Prize for you:

Pressing on is good for us. It makes us stronger and makes us better people.

Romans 5:3 – 4  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

The most long lasting thing about pressing on is that it will bring you to a place of eternity with Christ.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

What I find exciting and comforting about this passage is that, not only do I have to work hard to make it here, but God is looking forward to welcoming me and spending eternity with me at the end of it all.

4. Lastly – The Finishing Kick

Even after having done this all – forget the past, embracing God’s future and pressing on to God’s purpose, you will find there is still one thing more you need. And it is the X-Factor, that extra Holy Spirit power. This race of life cannot be won by strategy or stamina or determination alone. God has a vested interest in seeing you through. He will not leave you alone.

Entrust yourself to God the father and he will see you through. He has committed himself to you and made many promises to walk this journey until you finish strong.

Jesus himself says – that he will never leave us nor forsake us, he has said that by His spirit he is with us to the end of the ages – until the finish line, both of our lives and of eternity.

Listen to his promises in the book of Philippians alone –

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 3:21 [It is God who will] who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4: 19-20 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

At least one promise in each chapter of God the Father walking with us until the finish line.

Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. We stream the sermon LIVE every Sunday 9AM GMT+3 here, bookmark and tune in. Sermon videos are usually uploaded to our YouTube channel