Going the Distance
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Discipleship, Spiritual Formation
GOING THE DISTANCE
A Series on the Christian Journey
from Beginning to End
On Sunday, January 9, 2011, I begin a three-part sermon series for the new year. GOING THE DISTANCE: A Series on the Christian Journey from Beginning to End is the title of the series, which is designed to equip us for a life-long commitment to the PATH of Christian Discipleship. The messages in the series are:
Sunday, January 9, 2011 ————————-
BEGINNING [OR BEGINNING AGAIN]
All beginnings with God are new beginnings. In Christ, God redeems our past, makes us new, and claims us for the future he has planned.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 (I know the plans I have for you…)
2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 (…Anyone in Christ…is a new creation)
Sunday, January 16, 2011 ————————-
STAYING THE COURSE
We are often tempted to lose heart in the middle of our life’s journey. We have lost sight of the beginning and do not yet have the end in view. In place of despair God gives us grace to endure.
Isaiah 38:9-20 (…It was for my benefit that I suffered…anguish)
Colossians 1:9-14 (…So that you may have great endurance…)
Sunday, January 23, 2010 ————————-
FINISHING WELL
Consider the legacy you want to leave. In the end, as you look back over your life, what story do you want to be able to tell? The time to decide to finish well is now.
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 (Joshua…was filled with the spirit…because [of] Moses)
2 Timothy 4:1-8 (I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.)
In addition to each Sunday’s message, I am providing a daily devotional guide, which I am calling Your COMPASS for the Journey…on the PATH of Discipleship. The COMPASS will be available each Sunday in print format and daily on this site.
My hope is that this series will equip us to embrace what Eugene Peterson once called ‘a long obedience in the same direction’ (a phrase Peterson discovered in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche), that it will prepare us to start out (or start again) with confidence, to remain fathful for the whole journey of Christian discipleship, and to finish well.
May God fulfill his plans for you as you continue on the PATH of Christian discipleship.
Photo Credit: ‘Return of Metatron’ by Evan Leeson
