Win, Build, Send

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​“Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I counted 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.”


Philippians 3:7-8

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                                                                                 :This is transcribed from the Ready Set Go Podcast:
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We are a part of the Equip, Encounter, and Activate Network, “Encouraging your Faith to endure the race God has set before you.” Our Vision at the EEA Network is to Win by Grace, Build with Truth, Send in Faith, and those three traits can be summed up in Ready Set Go. 

You’ve probably heard those terms before in a race of some sort, as the runners Ready themselves at the starting blocks, the judge yells Set, giving the runners the opportunity to rise up in their stance to shoot out the gate. Then the gun sounds signaling the runner to go.

We can find that the Apostle Paul talked a lot about running the race set before us. He talks about it at length in 1 Cor. 9:24-27 where he says everybody is running, but you need to run to win. He says you are running with a purpose, a goal in sight.

Paul wanted you to know you have purpose in every step, every stride, every arm swing, you have purpose in every setback, every slow down, every muscle ache, you have purpose in every moment, every breath, every heartbeat, YOU HAVE PURPOSE!

One thing I tell my daughter before a race is you run your best, hardest, and fastest in a race. Practice is practice, but in a race you are running to win, so you run your best.

But, we as Christians don't do it for a prize that will sit on a shelf for years and then be thrown away, but a prize that will last forever. He goes on to say he disciplines his body, because we all know our body, which includes our mind and heart, work against us sometime. But we have to discipline it, we have to be intentional, so it will do what it should.

Thus the reason we call our Podcast “Ready Set Go”. We want to encourage you, readying you to face this world head on with Christ, Encountering God in a new way, and sending you to face society with strength and confidence.

John Piper wrote in his book “Don’t Waste Your Life”, “Oh, that God would help me waken in you a single passion for a single great reality that would unleash you, and set you free from small dreams, and send you, for the glory of God, into all the spheres of secular life and to all the people of the earth.”

We want to awaken you with a single passion. The single passion that John Piper was referring to was the same Passion Paul wrote about in Philippians 3:7-8 when he said, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I counted 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." He is basically saying that one thing matters: Know Christ, and Gain Christ. Everything is rubbish in comparison to this.

With this single passion we want you to build your house. Because through this one thing, knowing Christ and gaining Him, you can build your house on a solid foundation and no wind, storm, no hell or high water can tear it down.
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I love when Jesus taught He would use metaphors to get His point across. He painted a picture to show us who He is and how to live. We are His paintings to the world, His masterpiece. To show the World who He is, and why He came.

In Matthew 7: 24-29, Jesus does what any good preacher does and concludes His sermon summarizing how to activate what He just taught. Matthew chapter 5 through the end of chapter 7 is the greatest sermon ever preached. He starts with the beatitudes, ends with what true disciples are, and in-between all that deals with life issues, how to truly live, encourages us in our faith, and debunks false teachings. And it even says that after he ended His teaching the crowd was amazed because He taught with real authority, unlike their teachers of religious law.

Teaching with authority, He sums it all up painting a picture telling us what to do now. And He says this, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Jesus sums up the greatest sermon ever preached on earth, and paints a picture to illustrate what to do now. What is He saying? He illustrates the absolute necessity of doing the will of God, which is what God has told us to do. How do we know what God has told us to do. Through His Word. Jesus is the Word made flesh, and Jesus just taught what to do. We have the same choice as the people who where there to hear it for the first time. We need to read it and act. If we walk away from this without true heart change we are like the person who built their house on sand. If we truly don’t apply what the Word taught us we will crumble to the pressures of this life every time. How can we stand firm in the midst of the battering of lifes' storms? He paints the picture and says Build Your House on the foundation I just laid for you. Build it on me. And if we do that it will remain standing no matter what comes at it.

What are we trying to do here with the Ready Set Go Podcast? We are setting you up for greatness, with purpose and hope. One way to propel yourself to this greatness is through prayer. The devil’s tormented sickness can’t function when we pray. Prayer prepares your soul for victory. Prayer lifts us above the circumstance and lets God’s power flow. And it’s through that Encounter with the Holy Spirit through prayer and God’s Word, you Set yourself up for greatness. I challenge you to do that today.

Now Go, Activate! How do I do that you may ask. Learn from that picture Christ painted in the story. “Do what I have taught you to do.”  And if you forget, just go back and read it again. It’s important that you are in His Word on a continual basis. There is always something new I learn every time I read it, and you will too, I guarantee it.

Thank You for listening. Join us next time on the next podcast as we discuss the values that drive this ministry to do what God has called us to do. So stay tuned for that. Remember Our vision here is to Win by Grace, Build with Truth, and Send in Faith, and how we do that is by Equipping you to Encounter Jesus and Activate your Faith. We love you! Peace!