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This week, Ismael Ochoa encourages us to persevere in the race set before us. The race may seem long and make us want to ask, "Are we there yet?" But, strengthen yourself and press on.
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This week, Ismael Ochoa encourages us to persevere in the race set before us. The race may seem long and make us want to ask, "Are we there yet?" But, strengthen yourself and press on.
Comment
This week, Ismael Ochoa encourages us to persevere in the race set before us. The race may seem long and make us want to ask, "Are we there yet?" But, strengthen yourself and press on.
Listen to Are We There Yet by CCI Fellowship MP3 song. Are We There Yet song from CCI Fellowship is available on Audio.com. The duration of song is 40:53. This high-quality MP3 track has 192 kbps bitrate and was uploaded on 7 Nov 2023. Stream and download Are We There Yet by CCI Fellowship for free on Audio.com – your ultimate destination for MP3 music.
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The sermon is about enduring in our walk with the Lord and staying faithful in our faith. The speaker shares personal experiences and references Bible verses to emphasize the importance of endurance in the Christian race. They encourage listeners to lay aside sin and run with endurance, looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith. The speaker also mentions the rewards and retribution in heaven for our actions on earth. Ultimately, the message is about staying committed to our relationship with God and persevering through challenges. Welcome to CCI Fellowships podcast. Thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. And the title for today's sermon, I was thinking, and there's a movie that's called, like, I titled this sermon, Are We There Yet? Some of you may laugh because it's a comedy, but I know that you have heard this or you have asked yourself at some point in your life, are we there yet? How much is it going to take to get from point A to point B? In our walk with the Lord, we're asking ourselves these questions maybe over and over again. Like, in what stage are we in? For example, when am I going to get that miracle? Or when am I going to see God move for this special or this family member to convert? Or maybe you are praying for a financial miracle or maybe you're just praying for healing. And sometimes we have these questions that we don't have, like, the exact same answer at that point. Or also, is it time for me to start serving? Or is it time for me to move from Honduras? Or is it time for me to take the decision to be here in Honduras? Is my mission in life accomplished? Or am I in the right track? These are some questions that I personally have asked myself, and sometimes we don't get an immediate answer to this. But what I know is that you only know the answer if you endure. And today's message is maybe it's not a three-point message, but the word that I want you to stay with you in your heart, in your soul, in your mind, is to endure. So let's pray today. Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity, Father, to be at your home, Father, at your house. Father, that Scripture may be more alive than any other day, Father, in our lives. That we may share our faith, that we may glorify you, God. And that this day, Father, it may be a life changer in our relationship with you, Father, with this phrase, to endure. To endure in your path, to endure in your love. And thank you, God, for this day. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. So, endurance in the New Testament comes from the Greek, I don't know if I'm going to pronounce it correctly, but it's hypomeno. And it has three usages in the New Testament. The first use, it may refer to, I remain behind, like not going straight forward, I will wait here. Other uses, I stand my ground to show endurance. And the third use is, I endure, I bear up against, I persevere. And I think that we have an image there, a runner and a finish line. I don't know, but I think that maybe three times when I'm bringing the sermon, I talk about my personal experiences with sports, and maybe my body is telling me it's time to do sports. But last year at the business, we had the opportunity to do the t-shirts for a marathon. It was just a race for 10 kilometers. But I said to Francis, hey, let's go, let's go to this marathon. It was a long time for me that I'm not getting into running. I think that even before the pandemic, I'm not running at all. And we were ready, and it was a very beautiful experience. But right before getting the starting line, everybody started running. And I was running very, very fast, like, oh, I'm in a good condition. I'm leaving everyone behind. And I saw the experienced runners, that they were going very slow, but constant running. At the end, it took me more than the ones that were running with their technique and everything. And at the end, at the middle of the race, I was like, no, I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to make it. And there was a special time also of prayer and getting in contact with the Lord. I can't, but you can, God, and start these prayers in the middle of the race. But it was an amazing experience. And I was remembering this while I was preparing for this sermon. Let's go to Hebrews. I know that this year, Pastor Jen has been preaching a lot of Hebrews. And we had these tears about the warnings that we have in Hebrews of falling apart from the Lord. And in Hebrews 11, the writer of Hebrews talks about faith or the whole chapter, basically. And let's go to your Bible in Hebrews 12, chapter 1 to 3. That's right. Okay, let's read. Verse 1 says, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily snares us, and let us run with an endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against him. When I was reading Hebrews and endurance, we have like a storyline when you're preparing to start a race. And the writer of Hebrews right here is saying, let us lay aside every weight and also every sin which so easily snares us. Right before coming to Christ, definitely we are living a life of sin and we're separated from our Lord. But when we decide to start this race, the writer says, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Now, in our path with Christ, definitely we can relate to a race and we can have different ups and uphills and downs, ups and downs during the race. But endurance is what will make us raise the good race and have that goal. What's the goal in verse 2? It says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. When we start the good race and we're starting to getting to know the purpose and why are we here on earth, our purpose in Christ, we are getting to know more and more about Jesus. And that storyline, we start right when we said, God, I love you with Jesus, I accept you as my savior. And you start that path. And once you know that you're not only to accept Jesus, but also to go into the world and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, you know that this race is not a passive race. We need to be active and each one of us has a perfect piece that God is using for his kingdom. But sometimes we are running very, very, very low. That's the race also in getting to know our purpose. So the question today is, are you preparing each day to run the good race? Are we nurturing correctly? Are we preparing correctly? And also, do we have a goal? What's your goal in this race? Only salvation or definitely expanding the kingdom of God in earth? Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 2. I'm going to read from the New International Version, NIV. Let's go to verse 3. It says, "...join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer." As a soldier, we can read here that doesn't get entangled in civilian affairs, other stuff than not to please his commanding officer. He has a goal. Verse 5 says, "...Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules." And there's this, and I'm not getting into this or doing apologetic about this about salvation, but people may fall apart. And I'm going to tell you why am I talking about this, but definitely there is a price at the end of the race. We've heard about when people that have served the Lord fervently during their lifetime, and then they started a ministry in their lives. We've seen people writing like, he ended up the race, he ended up the race, and now he's with the Lord. So there's a price, and that price definitely is salvation. Verse 6 says, "...the hard-working farmer shall be the first to receive a share of the crops." And my comment about this is definitely in heaven, there's going to be a retribution. The message that I brought months ago about stewardship, there will be a retribution in the things that you do in this earth. And also in Matthew 6.20, in the home groups, in the fellowship groups this Thursday, the video talks about Matthew 6.20. It says, "...do not store treasures here on earth, but store up yourselves treasures in heaven." There's going to be a retribution, a compensation in heaven for your work here on earth. And let's read. This is very beautiful. In verse 10, the same chapter says, "...therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Now here it is. Verse 11 says, "...here is a trustworthy saying, if we died with Him, we also live with Him." This was something we talked about yesterday in the baptisms. If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, there's this word again, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us, deny us also. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, we can think that He also will be faithless, but not. He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. How beautiful is this scripture. The Lord has been speaking to us, specifically in fellowship, about our way to maturity, how to get in this race correctly. God has been speaking to us with faith how to be transformed. And nothing of this will bring fruit in our lives if we don't endure. Can we see the picture of this lady? I don't know if this lady is here. I don't ask her permission about this. I don't know if Pastor Jose noticed this, but during the Bible Day celebration that we... Well, we didn't run, but we walked around the Boulevard Suyapa. And there was a celebration at the Lempira Reina. And it was doing a big... The sun was like at noon specifically. It was very strong. And all the people were wearing the galerias with the roof and everything. And we were entering the Lempira Reina. And the only place that we had was the place in the sun, maybe not the most comfortable place. But we were there. And there we were in a beautiful atmosphere of worshiping the Lord. And when we were worshiping and the message started, I saw this señora, this woman. And I couldn't not take a picture of her because I can see her like she's thirsty of the Word of God. And I don't know if maybe she accepted Jesus the day before that, but definitely she's with her Scripture. She's with her Bible. And I can have an example. When you're running, and this happened to me that day that I told you that we were running a race with my wife, that maybe I saw people with gadgets, and maybe they have like two years running, or maybe you're comparing yourself with them. But here I see an example of a runner of the good race. I don't know what you see in her, but it touched my heart. Seeing a woman, a person that wanted... She didn't care about who was watching her. She only wanted more and more of Christ. She didn't even care maybe who was sharing the message that day, but she was there with her Bible. And I can see an example of a runner. A lot of people at this point is walking away from Christ each day. People quitting their race. And it's a very hard topic. Maybe you have family members that have drawn away or maybe take decisions of separating from the Lord. But I've been asking myself during the last month, and maybe asking to Pastor John and talking about this, because I've heard a lot of news, a lot of people separating, and it's nothing new, right? But I was trying to understand why does this happen? Because once you try the presence of the Lord and getting back to that line of thought about His salvation, His loss or not, but once you come to Christ and once the revelation of who Christ is in your life, it's very difficult to fall apart. Maybe it's a vain example, but once you try... No, it's not a vain example. But once you try the goodness of God in your life, it's very difficult to fall apart. But sometimes... With my wife, we have a friend that we've been preaching to her the gospel, and she was in a very trouble staging her life. As a believer, the first thing that you're going to bring up to the table is, well, let's pray. May I pray for you and get more deeper into Christ? How can I help you? And after weeks, after months, maybe the phrase that came to her, and she told her to Francis, I've tried everything. I've tried that God thing, and it didn't result. And our time here on earth right now, what people are wanting every time, is things to happen fast. If I put a business, and maybe I tell you this example, if I put a business, we'd love to, like the next day, getting invoices of millions of dollars or lempiras, and getting things very quick, not waiting and not enduring. And I felt that the Lord told me that that's one of the reasons why people fall apart. And yesterday we were with my wife here, with the youth groups of CCI, and something that I shared, I felt sharing with them, it's very strong, but Paul Washer, I don't know if many of you know him, but he was in this congress of youth groups also in the States, and everyone, you know, when we made the youth retreats, we like to have lights, good music, and entertainment and everything, and Paul Washer was some kind of, his face was very upset, but he was not upset, he was like very serious about something, and he said, I've been thinking, and maybe, I'm not condemning you, but maybe some of you that are here in this auditorium, maybe fall apart. And this is something serious, this is something that we need to not joke about it, and it's very hard to think, and it touches my heart, thinking of years, maybe about 10, 11 years ago I gave my life to Christ, and I go to social media, and I can think, and I just want to clarify that I'm not judging anyone, but there's a burden in my heart when I saw a friend of mine that maybe is living a different lifestyle than what God has done, and maybe God has called me to do things in social media, and every time that I posted a video a year ago, there was no time that one person texted me. And I want to clarify that it's not what I'm doing in myself and pointing on myself, but being active in going to the people that is falling apart. We need to teach them, we need to pray for them, we need to teach them how to endure, and maybe you can ask yourself, how am I going to teach someone else to endure if I'm struggling with this or that? Let's go to Galatians chapter 5, verse 7 to 8, and it says, You were running the good race. Who caught in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. Jesus warns us that there are going to be false teachers and false teachings, and it's not bad to ask yourself or ask the Lord, is this a right teaching? And definitely God is going to answer you through His Word, and I know that Pastor John or Pastor Jose, when they are preaching about something, they wouldn't have any problem if you don't agree with something. It will be an atmosphere that they will talk to you and why they are preaching about this and I'm not saying that they are having a bad teaching, but I've heard people that they are not part of the church, but I've heard people like, I don't like what he said, and PJ has told it. Sometimes people will not agree to the truth, and they would like to hear the gospel that they want to hear, and they feel comfortable. And maybe some of you are not feeling comfortable about me preaching about this, but I felt necessary to do it. If you're not focused on the finish line, it will be very easy to get caught in things away from the truth. You'll get false teaching and also the flame representing the fire of Christ in your life is getting dim and dim each day. We have the example of Mary and Martha. Martha was very focused on the duties that they had to do, and Mary had the best part, she was at the feet of Jesus. Also, part of bringing this message is also to motivate you. Even if you're serving, and yesterday I had this conversation with someone, that he's someone at church, that maybe he lives here like the whole week, and I asked him, at what service are you coming, or who is your pastor? And he said, like, I don't know. And it was a special moment, rather than condemning him, it was a special moment, a special conversation that we had yesterday. And sometimes we get more focused on the ministry that God has put in our hands, and I know that there's people here serving in a ministry specifically, and sometimes it's very easy to the fire and the light of God in our life will be dim and dim each day. So serving, you can get caught in just doing the task and lose the passion or reason why are you serving. I remember Pastor Jose also talking about the Greeters team, and now he's also a co-pastor and he's in charge of the intercession team. But he started years before I came to CCI Fellowship, he was in charge of the Greeters team. And maybe some, if you're not part of the Greeters team, maybe you can think that maybe the duty of the Greeters team is just only to, hey, welcome, what's your name, or do the task. But definitely there is power in the Greeters team. Each person that comes to that doors, the first person that they're going to see are the Greeters team, and it's a great opportunity so that the Greeters team may be praying for them. So why am I bringing this example? Because there's no like a higher or smaller task. We are a team in this church and we don't have to get caught only in the tasks. So what will happen when difficult times come? And God and Jesus also told us that we were going to have difficult times here on earth, but be still and know that I will be with you till the end of the times. Let's go to James chapter 1 verse 2 to 4. I'm going to read from the New Living Translation and says, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing absolutely nothing. I added that, absolutely nothing. But you're going to need absolutely nothing when you endure during the any, when it says when troubles of any kind come your way. And I've said this before, but during the pandemic, our business was hit and it was a perfect time to learn how to endure during any kind of trouble. But in 2023, like we can say with my wife and I, that it's been a special time with the Lord as we never ever lived before. And He's faithful and He's going to continue to be faithful with us to the end of time. So if you're going through troubles of any kind on your way, remember that consider it as an opportunity for great joy. Nehemiah chapter 8 says, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And it's a good opportunity to create endurance. We can think of examples of endurance in Scripture. And who can think of the first and the best example of endurance in Scripture? Someone? Jesus. Jesus going to the cross. God Himself getting into that cross. I was remembering this day that when the reason why the physical body of Jesus died was of a broken heart. I was remembering this this morning. And He endured there. And imagine that Jesus going into the cross and having all that suffering. Maybe some other will say like, leave me here, I can't. I just can't. But there was a purpose and He did it to the end. But also we have another example of endurance in Scripture. If you want, we can go to 1 Samuel, the first book of Samuel chapter 15. In verse 28, it says, Samuel saying to King Saul, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors, to one better than you. It's a very hard word, but King Saul was disobedient. And in that exact same day, something happened in heaven and it was done already. And in that exact same next days, Samuel was searching for the next king of Israel. And he went to the house of Jesse and he found David, the little one. He never thought that David was the one that God was saying to anoint him. But that exact same day, God anointed David to be the next king of Israel. But what happened? The next day was David the king of Israel. No, he was not the king of Israel. He needed to have the process. He needed to endure during difficult, during different situations. He had opportunities when he was serving an authority, King Saul. He was serving King Saul and King Saul was trying to kill him. And during that time that David was escaping from Saul, we have some Psalms there that help us to this time during having difficult times. But also, he learned something. And this is something that I've learned during this story also, that David learned how to be under authority. He had, I think, the two times he had the opportunity to kill King Saul and he didn't. Because he understood this principle that is running under authority. We have one of the Psalms and I want to read it. Psalms 59, verse 16 to 17 says, But I will sing of the strength. In the morning I will sing of your love. For you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. You are my strength, I sing praise to you. You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. Before closing and finishing, we have like 10 more minutes, I want to go to a story and I want to stop a little bit here in this story. It's in the second book of Kings, chapter 5. And if you have your Bible, you can go there and be with me during this story. We have the story of Naaman, where he is healed of leprosy. And who was Naaman? Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Haram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given him victory to Haram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had something. He was dealing with leprosy. And partly in the chapter we can know that a servant of his wife told him that there was a prophet in Israel that maybe you can try going to him and see if he could heal him. And well, there was a misunderstanding at some point in the story, and the king of Israel at that time received a note, a letter, and he was thinking that it was for him, but it specifically was for the prophet. And the prophet said to him, Send Naaman to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel. And what happens? Let's go to verse 9, and here's the part of the story that I want to get in. So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean. He sent a messenger. Elisha didn't even receive him. He sent a messenger to tell him specifically, Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean. There's something interesting here in the way that when we read in Scripture that people were healed, there's not like in a specific pattern in which people, Ah, leprosy. Leprosy is healed this way. Blindness. People with blindness are healed this way. There are different ways in which God wanted to test the faith of the people who were going to be cleansed, and we see it here in the Old Testament, the prophet saying to Naaman to go to the Jordan and wash yourself seven times. But what happened to Naaman? In verse 11 it says, But Naaman went away angry and said, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God. Wait, he sent over the spot and pyramid of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharphar the rivers of Damascus better than the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed? So he turned and went off in rage. Here we can see Naaman thinking that a way that God was going to heal him. And in different situations in our lives, we are thinking that God is going to act in a specific way, but sometimes what God wants to work in us is endurance, to let our faith. Hebrews 11 and Pastor John also preached about this, about faith, having faith in our faith being worked. In verse 13 says, Naaman's servants went to him and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then when he tells you wash and be cleansed? So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. What happened here? And I love to think about this. I don't know if to call it symbolism, but there's a number seven there, but why seven times? We don't know why seven times. But what I know is that when he get into the Jordan River, he submerged himself one, two, nothing happened, three, nothing is happening, four, five, maybe I should stop, six, seven, and his flesh was restored. Yesterday also I had a talk with someone. A young boy came to the front and was talking to me. He opened his heart and he said to me, You know what, I'm dealing with this sin. I love God. I love God in a manner that you couldn't imagine. But I'm getting tired of dealing with this sin. And I felt that at some point I want to quit the race. He specifically said that. And we prayed, and I know that God did something great yesterday because his heart is in the right place even in dealing with sin. He cried like a baby there, and it was a very special moment. And I felt like following up with him during this stage because that's what we do. Rather than condemning someone at church, we give them follow and love because for grace we receive, for grace we will serve others. And what will happen if we compare this young boy as Naaman, maybe he's in his sixth year dealing with this sin, and maybe he's in his last day yesterday. In the name of Jesus Christ, that's the way he's done it. Leaving that sin that is torturing him. So it's a different manner that you can imagine to create endurance, but he's enduring. He's staying here. He's staying with the Word, and I know that God did something great yesterday. So getting back to Naaman's story, after the seven times his skin was cleaned as a young boy, and one of the phrases he said after watching God perform that miracle, he said, now I know that there is a God in Israel. So that's the God that we serve. That's the God that loved us first. And I want to close with this scripture. It says in Hebrews 10.36, you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. You need to persevere, you need to endure, so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. Let me ask you something. Does God have promised you something in your life? Yes? No? Are you waiting for something in your life? Obviously, we hope to finish the race, to be in eternity, to worship the Lord day and night as the angels are doing at this exact moment. But there are promises that are awaiting, and I'm not going to say examples of promises because it's something that only you and God knows. And this is a very good moment to ask God, am I in the right track? Am I serving in the right place? Am I doing the right thing? Am I working in the right place? There are a lot of questions that you may have, but definitely God has an answer for you. But that doesn't mean that you need to quit immediately. Remember of Naaman, he needed to submerge himself seven times. Ask the Lord and the Lord will guide your path. So, while the worship team comes to the altar and preparing our tithes and offerings, I just want to invite you to endure. As you see, I didn't have like three-point sermon today or specific bullets, but what I want the most that stays with you this night is that you may endure and that we, at the end of the race, we don't know when it's going to happen, but we can see each other in eternity and be sure that where we are in our relationship with Christ. And also to endure, I brought this message also to bring action to your life, to not be passive and imagine of a race. Maybe with my wife this month or next month are starting to run again, to get in shape. But also spiritually to get in shape to go for others. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for your presence in this place. Father, my prayer this afternoon is that we may endure, that even in a difficult situation, Father, we may... You may bring joy in the middle of difficult decisions, in the middle of situations that we're having at home, at work, or in our lives, Father, that we may see you working in our lives. Father, I pray that this word, that your Scripture, not my words, but your Scripture, Father, bring life and bring hope to everyone here, Father, that one day we are going to see you face to face, Lord, and no one in this place that is hearing this message will fall apart from you, Lord. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. If you are ever in the Tegucigalpa area and looking for an English-speaking congregation, please join us on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the main auditorium of the Glacier CCI in Colonio Trapici, just off Boulevard Sollapa, near CUNA. If you would like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowship.cci at gmail.com. That's fellowship.cci at gmail.com, or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Blessings. ♪
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