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Good morning everyone. It's good to be in the house of the Lord. I first want to just thank uh the worship team, Stephanie and Tale and the uh volunteers for their work in putting together such

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a lovely service. I appreciate it. And I think it has certainly set the tone and it's, it's good to see everyone. I think um sometimes as we're going through the uh semester, we need

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these kinds of moments just to re center. So I think this is what uh I'd like to uh help us to think about myself and all of us , this sense of being taken on purpose, taken

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on purpose. The passage has already been read, but indulge me for a moment just to go back to Philippians 3 12 just to center on this piece and hear these words as it's something that we can

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apply for ourselves. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Many of us,

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if not all of us at some point in life raises in the recesses of our subconscious that weighty existential question of why am I here? It's also articulated as what is my purpose or what is my direction

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in life, a coarser version. And I know we have to keep this P G is. What the blank am I doing here? There's no shortage of well intentioned quotes and advice for direction. We've

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heard some such as if you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there. Here's another, the purpose of life is a life of purpose. Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose

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and direction. And then lastly, life is a compass. When you set your goals correctly, it will take you in the right direction from a psychological standpoint. Some search for and at times may even

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obsess over the meaning of life's proceedings. When a negative or positive event takes place, an attempt is made to assign a meaning to it. For instance , if there's an undesirable occurrence, it may be

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interpreted as a test of endurance. This is our way of trying to make sense of things. Sometimes if it's something that's positive, it confirms that we were on the right path. And perhaps even heaven

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sent the reality of evil and suffering in the world , often engenders a preponderance of theological apologetic and philosophical calisthenics to explain their presence. If you've been in any theology classes, you know what I'm talking about

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. Although heated debates can be held around external phenomena , the stakes are raised considerably when we must discern meaning in our own lives. There's an insatiable need to rationalize or to make sense of the situation and

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circumstances. Why did this certain thing happen? What is the meaning or purpose behind it as we ponder the accumulation of days and hours that we lived and what has already transpired as well as what we hope

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the future to hold that deep and elusive uncertainty of how and where we fit in the cosmic expanse remains . This is also a question that spirituality, religion , philosophy, and other forms of critical reflection seeks

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to provide an answer to some may turn to the Bible, uh probably people like you um or other sacred writings and their faith for spiritual guidance in life . As some peruse the accounts of biblical figures such

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as Moses Jacob and even Paul along with other called narratives, they may also desire or presume that a spectacular spiritual theophany is required before making any religious or spiritual pledges. Psychologically, a lack of direction or

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purpose can manifest an emotional and physiological side effects along with frustration and depression, unresolved direction can also lead to an apathetic emotional response where a person becomes desensitized and lacks the needed energy and action to contribute to

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a society or make meaningful change. The mind can become sedentary mired in a vantage point that deuces no interest or need to do more than the bare minimum to exist. Of course, the absence of direction

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may also lead to a search for fulfillment in unproductive or unhealthy habits to fill the void. Even the local church cannot escape the influx of apprehension. Some might confess that even when embedded in a proliferation of

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religious and spiritual context, stop me. If you've heard these Sunday worship bible classes, midweek services, hours of power cell groups, lecture series, chapel services, committee meetings. There's still a persistent feeling

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of meandering and being disconnected. Sometimes the very things that were intended to edify us, think about where we are and what's going on in our lives. The very things that were intended to edify us or

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bring someone into a closer relationship with God has an adverse effect of inducing stress and confusion to the point of sometimes leaving altogether in our text. Paul writes to the community of Saints in the Ma in the

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Macedonian city of Philippi. In the first part of the epistle, he expresses his happiness for how they have shared the gospel message. He describes his current predicament as a prisoner in chains for proclaiming the gospel

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message. He also exhorts the Philippian church about how to interact among one another by being of the same mind and to be on the lookout for dubious characters . Following these preliminary comments, Paul engages in a

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bit of personal psycho psychoanalysis after describing his credentials, his own curriculum. V T. He shares an interesting viewpoint of his current state of mind to appreciate what Paul says next. We ought to remember his

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testimony in his epistle to the Galatians. He claims to have had a revelatory experience with the risen Christ . This experience is the governor for his direction and passion. In verses 10 through 11, he explains

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the desire to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings. He pursues this direction because he is convinced that this is his path to resurrection and by implication, life eternal.

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What we learn is not the specifics of how he will carry this out, but that he has a clear direction and goal verses 12 through 13 add an interesting theological detail. And this is the central part

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of what we're getting at here. There's a an interesting theological detail to Paul's comments as he explains how he has not reached his goal. He incorporates a form of the Greek word. When in seminary,

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we have to do this, right? A form of the Greek word Lamba. This word to grasp , to take or to seize is used three times to express his current condition. First. He says

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that he is not already, he has not already taken hold Ella Bone of his goal or perhaps hasn't been made perfect Teta Leo. So we got this sense of completion or perfect there. In other words

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, he has not fully come to know Christ or the power of his resurrection or the sharing of his sufferings. He hasn't yet at this point, he certainly has not attained his supreme goal of being gloriously

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resurrected from the dead. However, interestingly, right in the middle of verse 12, almost obscured, we have a powerful confession. This is a popular passage for a variety of reasons, especially the press

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on to reach the prize et cetera. But here's something that's sometimes overlooked. Paul asserts that he presses on for a distinct purpose, he presses on to take hold of something. The third use of the

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Greek word is cut a length thing for our Greek nerds. In here we have a Greek course. I see you, Doctor Jong, our Greek course on First Corinthians and those who who suffer, I

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mean do well in my class on the gospel of John Greek X of Jesus. Uh This is when you take a look at it as I know you will because you have plenty of time. This is

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an heiress passive, first person singular Kalle thing. I thought you liked that, which signifies that Paul is being acted upon that he has been taken hold of or he has been grasped by Christ Jesus for

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a purpose. Some translations make different attempts to capture the theological thrust of the phrase. Uh One example , the new living translation which I urge my students against puts it this way. But I press on

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to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. We're trying, they're trying to render this word Kala thing. Uh what to do with it here. The K J V, the one that

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originally caught my attention years ago when I was just a, a lad goes like this. Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect. Here it is. But I follow after, if

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that I may apprehend if I might grasp if I might apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Those are good translations. They're fine , they're fair. Uh But there's a translation.

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Uh many of you may not be aware of. It's the R AC translation. Uh It goes, you haven't heard of this, the Rodney Allen Carruthers translation. Um It goes like this, not that

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I already took hold of it or have already been made perfect or complete, but I press on so I might take hold of that thing or purpose, that thing or purpose for which I was taken hold

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of by Christ Jesus. I endorsed this one. The emphasis here is that Paul is not just flailing about or arbitrarily seeking a direction or purpose. The theological emphasis is that Christ has taken hold of him

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for a purpose. Paul's response is to now take hold of that purpose before Paul had other things that drove him, his genealogical stock, his Pisa status . Now it's Christ taking hold of him that drives

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his direction and his ambitions. The question becomes, is there anything in our encounter with the Lord that drives us? Has the Lord taken hold of us . Has the Lord taken hold of me? Has

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the Lord taken hold of you for something? When we take hold of that, for which Christ has taken hold of us, we possess something that we can begin to order our lives around the Lord taking

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hold of us is not just reaching a goal or getting the job done. If we look closely, it's an act of grace and opportunity. I know we like grace here to draw closer. But how

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can we know how can we know what Christ has taken hold of us? For those in homiletics, we've made it to the relevant question. I cannot propose to offer the definitive way to answer this question

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. I don't have a fleece like Gideon. I don't have the high priests Eid or any Urim or Thummim to declare what the Lord has for you. But I can offer some suggestions to move us closer

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, whether we are extroverts or introverts or somewhere in between what and who we have around us can affect our ability to take hold of divine purpose. And to hold on to that is to discern it,

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comprehend it and actualize it first. Stick with the theme taking hold. We need to loosen our grip , we need to loosen our grip in an attempt to discover direction and purpose. We may find ourselves

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unintentionally overwhelmed and in need of de cluttering our minds and to do lists, we should also ask how much time do we spend communicating with? And more importantly, listening to the Lord, not just venting

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sessions in our search for meaning, we may become too fixated. We have to consider this. We may become too fixated on hearing our own voice that the Lord cannot get a word in edgewise. We

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may also need this is difficult, but we may also need to let go of some things and some people and to give ourselves more room to breathe, to meditate and to hear, especially when we have

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heavy course loads and things of this sort ponder what it would be like if we intentionally gave the Lord space to impart guidance, not rushed, not scripted and not on the cusp of rem sleep, rapid

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eye movement, sleep. For those of you who may not know rem sleep, rapid eye move the deep, deep sleep. Sometimes um we get set to meditate. And the first thing that happens is

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that we start to yawn and the mind wanders, you know, some of, you know what I'm talking about. Second, we may need to reposition our grip. Sometimes spirituality is overly portrayed as being

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innately haphazard or overtly serendipitous. Look it up later . Instead time with the Lord ought to be a tactical habit and not simply a routine spiritual discipline this entails intentionally and strategically positioning ourselves to be successful,

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some garner a sense of direction but may be out of position to execute or to thrive. It's football season So that means a football analogy in football. For instance, this idea of being out of position

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, the team, the coaching staff, the trainers , the players have a strategy and philosophy for the offense and defense. And by the way, I'm from Michigan. So, uh the University of Michigan

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is still my place. But I understand I'm in this burnt orange area. I think they call them the Texans or the Longhorns or something like that. I mean, you know, I know they're pretty

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good, but from my understanding, I think Michigan's rated better, but nonetheless, it warrants it warrants a football analogy. Um There's a philosophy for the offense and defense which utilizes hundreds of plays to move

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closer to the end zone that is to reach the goal. Each play is meticulously designed to navigate the on field obstacles. Think of the, the analogy here with life that hinder reaching the goal. Sometimes

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there's a blitz, sometimes there's a double team or drop coverage each player, however, is strategically positioned to carry out a purpose on the field that facilitates the team's successful momentum toward reaching the goal. A

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player's purpose and the team's goal are inhibited. However , when someone is offsides or out of position, when a player is out of position, a whistle is blown, a flag is thrown to signify the

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infraction, the team is assessed the penalty that usually results in lost yardage toward the goal. The team then must work from a deficit to make up for the lost yardage, instead of piling up missed opportunities

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, penalties and lost yardage, yardage in life. It's far better to live in the best strategic position to successfully carry out one's purpose. Being in the right position means being intentional and prioritizing what the Lord

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has made clear. It's all right to have a plan. We should even do a S W A T assessment. Now, I'm dating myself. I don't, I don't know. Uh President Ariza Dean

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Amer. I don't know if, if, if S W A T is still used uh W A T S the old acronyms to do an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. I

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don't know if you all hear that kind of stuff these days. That's back from the early two thousands nineties. Uh but we could even do that kind of planning the same urgency and energy or more that

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other important areas of life receive should also go into discerning and actualizing what the Lord has taken hold of us for finally, we should know when to tighten our grip. Paul uses another interesting word in verses

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12 to 13. He understands his direction and goals . He recognizes that he is still an unfinished product . It's in this in-between space that he declares that he must press on to reach his goal. The

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Greek word here Dico signifies the intensity, the hot pursuit, the chasing, it demonstrates a mindset. Although Paul is in transition, he maintains a mentality , a behavior that exudes persistence. We also ought

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to hotly pursue our purpose in Christ, not passively , not half heartedly. When distractions disappointment, doubt fatigue arise, which they certainly will. They could make us lose our grip or lose sight of what

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the Lord has taken hold of us for. We may even need to erect monuments around us to help remain centered and to summon the fortitude to keep pressing on. When we take hold and press on.

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We gain clarity and efficiency. We can reduce the amount of mental dissonance and procrastination, not in a fanatical, naive or impulsive manner, but with an informed prudent and contemplative approach. There's a wonderful poem

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called clear direction that succinctly captures the intrinsic inclination for purpose. Hear these words sometimes in life, we may feel unsure of what God would have us to do. What is his will for our lives right

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now. When faced with two paths to choose, we need to come before the Lord. When we have to make a choice, we need to have ears that will hear the Lord's still quiet voice.

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For God will gladly show the way and open the doors to go through with clear direction from the Lord . He'll show us what we should do for. He longs for us to know his will and know

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the plans for our lives. So we'll accomplish the work of the Lord as his spirit in us daily Gods for he will walk with us each day and help us with each decision as our hearts are open

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to the Lord, he'll impart to us. Oh , hallelujah, his wisdom. We just need to ask of the Lord for the direction that we need . He will answer and speak to our hearts as

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we trust in his name and believe. Let us be encouraged today that with all of life's transitions that the Lord has indeed taken hold of us. God