Philippians 3:12-16 "Will We Make It"

Kathy and I were in Casper WY and visited the wagon trail west. Settlers would come to Casper where they would cross the plat river. As wagon trains came west they reached independence rock. If the wagon train made it to independence rock by July 4^th they would make it across the Sierra Nevada Mountains before the snow came. This was no guarantee. After reaching independence rock they had to keep the same pace they have been keeping all along. To relax, even at this point would mean death.

This is the attitude that Paul shares with us in this passage. Paul will not say “I’ve made it, I have done well enough, now I can rest.” He says “I press on” toward the goal. Paul warns the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 about idleness.  This holds true for spiritual idleness as it does for physical laziness. Proverbs 6:10 says “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hand to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

In 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 warns us that we may not lose our salvation but we can still suffer loss.

How do we do this?
Forget what lies behind
Gumball Rally “the first rule of Italian racing”
A trail of necessities.
Stop thinking I was and start thinking I Am.

Straining for what is ahead.
Many of us are on the last hill to glory
Packers Lacy
if all you can do is take a step and then fall, fall forward.

Our Church
We are in danger of not reaching the goal
The church is not to end at your grave
Some will say but we want, or we always have, or I don’t like this and that
How’s that been working for us?

Keven and I crossing the river, Stop fighting I am trying to save you.

What are you willing to leave behind? How far are you willing to strain toward the goal?
Will you reach the goal? Will you stand before a pile of ashes when your life is tried by fire?
Will there be a church here reaching the lost?