You know, when since my early days of ministry, I I felt that I’m supposed
to help people not only get ready for
heaven, but to win in life. And that’s always been, if you’ve been
around or you know, you know that when I came to the Northwest, I was 26 years old. And I was always I was always in
that space of feeling like God wanted us
to help people and encourage people and
bring wisdom out of God’s word to people. And how many of you know that
the enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy? But Jesus came that we might have life
and have it more abundant. How many of you know that
today? And so today as I uh as I
prepared for this message and this is just a one one we do a lot of series. This is a one week right now. Probably
be a series in the fall or something but right now it’s a one week. And I was just reflecting back to when we named
our church champion center and how all along this is just out of my heart. I
was just connecting the dots all out of my own heart like there’s been this passion and this desire to see people
through God’s strength and God’s help and God’s ways and God’s word to
overcome in life and to be victorious and to see young people win in life and
to we don’t have to lose. We we we can win like we can do all things through
Christ who strengthens us. And we are the head and not the tail. I feel like
I’m starting to preach already right now. But it’s just my story of of my calling and what God has put on my life.
And so I may go off into certain different realms of teaching. And you know, we talk about different topics and
we do series like true north and we do you know we talk about the Holy Spirit
or we talk about you know different different topics. some of them more theological and but but really this is
kind of like my this is this is my my little circle of what I know that God
called me to to always go back to because there are too many people that
are getting beat up and the enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy. And
God doesn’t want us to just have eternal life. He wants us to have life right here. best life possible on this planet.
Amen. And to always win. So today I’m going to go back to
one of my like main main verses of of of my life and our church. And uh even when
we called start we named our church champion center. I I envisioned a a like
a fountain or a I don’t not a fountain, but some of the guys around have heard
me talk about it. Just a runner running and breaking the the tape at the finish line and and and and the you know out on
the front of our churches like statue. That’s the word I was looking for. Like a statue symbolic of a runner running.
And I don’t know why we haven’t got that yet, but guess it hadn’t fit in the budget
quite yet. But runners running and we’ve looked at we’ve looked at doing it, but you know, just run breaking the tape
with a big around the base of it. Run to win. Run to win. Everybody say that. Run
to win. So, I’m going to read a verse to you and
and it’ll go up in a moment, but background to that is that the Apostle Paul was a huge sports fan. He liked
competition and was no doubt a season ticket holder at the I that might be
stretching it, but he went to the coliseum. he watched the games and every
chance you know that he had and and so it comes through in his writings uh in the writings of the Apostle Paul.
So we’re going to first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 and I’m going
to read there began there and and pause and then I’ll pick it back up. But but
it goes like this. It says, “Do you not know that in
a race all the runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” I want to talk to you about the
winning mindset. The winning mindset.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? And then he starts to
describe. He he just says, “Run in such a way.” Everybody say, “Such a way.”
Such a way. Say it again. Such a way. Such a way as to win.
run in such a way as to paraphrasing it to to win. That’s good. There’s a lot
that can be said about these verses, but what I want you to see today is the emphasis that the Apostle Paul has about
us winning the race that we’ve been given to run.
Everybody say, “Run to win.” Run to win. He’s saying you have options.
on how you will run your race. He’s differentiating between how some
people run versus how other people run.
And he’s teaching us that our attitude and
approach should be to win. Amen. Good. And he’s telling us not
everyone runs to win. You got casual runners. You got people
that, you know, see the the the run going in the marathon, they join in for
30 steps and so they can say they ran in the marathon and then they’re done. Like
but but he’s telling us like like have the mindset all right of
someone who is going for the prize.
Parents don’t teach your children that it doesn’t matter whether they win or
lose.
Talk about mindset. This is one that just started happening in the last, you know, 30 years or so.
And like that that that that we coddle our children to the point where we we
don’t keep score and we give participation trophies away
just like get trophy for showing up. That’s right. Then we wonder why when
they get their first job,
they want accolades for just showing up.
They want equal status for just showing up. Equal pay just showing up.
mindset. Here I am already finding new analogies
about you know about mindset and this is one of them like you
think about this if it doesn’t matter that the score doesn’t matter then why
do we keep score at school in sports
at work you don’t want to go to a you don’t want to go to a Seahawk game and and they
shut the scoreboard off and Just tell everybody we’re just here to have
fun. We’re just here. Eat your popcorn. Have fun. Well, who’s winning? Doesn’t
matter who wins. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. We’re just all here
together. I think I’m going to camp out here for a minute. I feel a little need
for this. Right? You here’s what I’m trying to
say, moms and dads. You don’t want them to learn to lose. You don’t want your
children to learn to lose. You can’t live a life of resilience and
strength and purpose if you don’t care about winning. That’s right. That’s
good. When I was a a a just a I think a teenager, I I got
into sports and loved sports and but there was a an older coach, football
coach, his name Vince Lombardi and I started reading a lot of his quotes and Vince Vince said, “A good
loser is a loser.” That’s right. Right.
And I, you know, you hear be a good loser when you’re a kid and and and I
understand. I don’t think we should throw kids should throw tantrums. I don’t think kids should be mean when
they don’t get their way. I think they need to learn character and behavior and how to congratulate people who win and
have dignity in their loss. I I believe in all that.
But what what I’m what I’m wanting to establish here is that we should never learn to lose.
We we should never learn the ways of losing to the point that we forget the
importance of winning.
Some some of y’all still the verdict’s out. You don’t quite like it cuz I came and pulled up in your driveway, got
myself out of the car, and walked into your living room just now. Yeah, it’s bothering you. But
just let the Lord talk to you and help you get a winning attitude,
a winning mindset, cuz you weren’t born to lose. Neither were your children.
That’s right. And we know all the stuff about having good attitudes and all that. I’m just saying that when that
gets in a culture and it gets in in a
person’s mind, they lose their sense of purpose
and they lose their drive and their ambition and they assume that and they
start to be entitled just because they woke up this morning. And they assume
that there is no bigger purpose and reason to like be better and go further
and do everything we can that is right and good.
Amen. Okay. So let me continue the the words of this is 1 Corinthians 9:25-26.
He he said this, the Apostle Paul, everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
They do it. Do you notice that? He just tells us, he just told us, “Run
to win.” And now he says, “Strict training.” They do it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get
a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone
running aimlessly. Yeah. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. Everybody
say, “Run to win.” Run to win. Everybody say this. Say, “Mindset
matters.” Mindset matters. In 1954, at the age of
25, Roger Banister became the first person to run a mile in less than four
minutes. runners had been chasing this goal,
listen to this, for about 70 years. And that challenge involved the
most brilliant coaches and gifted athletes in
North America, Europe, Australia, around the world.
But the interesting part of the story is
that Banister was not just a runner. He was a
neurologist who believed that the barrier had become as much a
psychological barrier as it was a physical barrier.
Okay. a mindset barrier.
And so just 46 days after Banister broke the 4-minute mile barrier,
another runner recorded a time of 3 minutes and 58
seconds. Yeah. And then just a year later, three
runners broke the fourminute barrier in just a single race.
Same race. Three broke it. And to date almost 2,000 I think have
broken the four minute barrier.
Why? because their mindset changed.
They no longer saw the the the fourminute mile as impossible.
Something that just your body could not attain.
They they had a mindset shift that began to realize, no, this this is
possible. Amen. And I’m telling you that because there’s many of you that have held are being
held back by a mindset that you have adopted, accepted,
and believed. That’s great. Some of the barriers that you are
dealing with are not going to be broken
with the mindset that you have right now. That’s awesome. That’s great.
Can I be honest with you? You have your
own version of the 4minute mile barrier.
You have a good heart. You have good intentions.
You might do a lot of things right. Go to church.
Pray for God’s [Music] will. Ask God for things that you need.
But you’re still stuck. Yeah. And you can’t seem to break
free in particular areas of your life.
See, the devil is real.
[Music] And what I said earlier, he is he is a
thief. He is a liar. He’s the father of all lies.
But think about what I’m saying when I use that
terminology. What is where does those lies go? Right, sir? It goes right into
your mind. It gets into a mindset.
And you you’re the one carrying. So you can rebuke the devil. Yes, sir. You can
cast out devils. You can march around your walls of Jericho.
You can speak in tongues. And if you keep your same mindset,
nothing’s going to change.
We got to get we got to get smarter at this. Christians got to get wiser. We
got to quit talking in these pseudo communicative kinds of things. Let let me give you an example. The Apostle Paul
referred to wrong mindsets as strongholds. Yeah.
You know, we use that word sometimes in churches and for in spiritual
conversations and words and I use it and you may use it like there’s a
stronghold. If you look to the scripture 1 Corinthians 10, it talks about our
weapons that we fight with, they are mighty through God to the pulling down
of strongholds. Right. Okay. But then the next verse explains what a
stronghold is. It says we cast down imaginations.
And pretensions. You know what a pretension is? It’s a claim.
It’s something you just say that you heard. And it was claimed to be true by your
dad, by your mom, by your friend.
by your cousin, by your aunt, and now you just it’s in you. It’s a
stronghold. That’s right. And you think a stronghold is something with demons sitting on top
of it, you know, like a wall around your life and a demon sitting on top of it,
daring you to move forward in your life. Stronghold is right here.
That’s great. Imaginations, assumptions,
lies, pretensions that exalt themselves
against the truth, against the knowledge of God.
That’s right. And so he says when he talking about this, the Apostle Paul, he
says, “And and so we bring our thoughts captive.” Yeah.
and make them obedient to Christ. Yeah,
we hear the word of God taught and we we identify what is, you know, we well
that’s not how I think, that’s not how I and rather than getting mad, we go, I’m
going to I’m going to I’m going to right now go against that imagination, that thought, that assumption, that thing I
heard. And rather than getting mad at Pastor Kevin because he went there today
and he started messing with me about winning and you know it doesn’t matter
and I I think I I don’t think it does matter. Well, go to the word, hear the
word and just surrender your stronghold. Surrender it to the truth.
Amen. Okay. Say, “I got it.” I got it. Say, “God’s thoughts God’s are higher
than mine.” Higher than mine. God’s ways God’s ways are higher than ours.
So mindset matters. I’ve got 10 confessions. This is kind of
bullet zing them at you quick. If you I hopefully you got something to write
with. Put it on your notes, on your phone, however you want to do it. I think you’re going to like this and I
think it’s going to help you because I just shared with you that it’s God’s plan that we would have
a winning mindset. Some of you are in a battle right now and you need you need victory and God
wants to give you victory. God wants to strengthen you and help you and empower you.
Amen. Amen. And I want to give you some confessions and you can you can write
them down. You can read them. You can memorize them. Whatever’s helpful, but this is 10 confessions of a winning
mindset. Just 10 confessions. And I try to make it practical and base it on the
word of God. Number one, God is my provider. See, everything good comes from above.
God is our strength. He is our help. Yes. Can you shout amen? Amen.
Whatever you have, you if you’re not careful, you think, well, I earned this.
Book of Deuteronomy talks about how people we do this. We we think, well, I made that money. I earned that as me.
Well, who gave you the strength? Who gave you the intelligence?
Who gave you it? All comes from God. Come on. Well, my friend is the one who
got me the job. Then, well, who actually opened up that door, answered that
prayer? God is our provider.
He provides for us. And I just want you to learn to confess that he can He
provides for me. He’s my source. He guides me. He heals me.
That’s right. He lifts me. He is Jehovah Gyra.
Number two, I’m willing to grind it out. Now, for those of you a little more
sophisticated and in the older generation, I’m willing to work for it.
You’re welcome. I’m just trying to level down on the
youth that are in the room. The real reward in winning is not about
a trophy or applause. That’s right. It’s about the process.
It’s about the challenges. It’s about the grind. It’s about the pain.
It’s about what you go through to win.
See, everybody wants to win, but in order to win, you have to go through loss. That’s
right. This is why winning, this is why we’re supposed to have a winning
mindset. Cuz when scripture teaches that and God puts that inside of you, he
knows that that’s where your proving ground will happen.
You have to suffer to win. You have to go through pain to win. You have to face
challenges to win. You can’t sit at home on the couch and
get rusty, dusty, and complain about the world.
What everybody doing wrong, and win, you got to get up off the couch. You got to get yourself going.
In order to win, you got to face the things you’re going through. Amen. Amen. Yeah. That this is what
makes if you’ve seen athletes who win Olympic gold or you know things like
that, they they get on that plat and and you watch them weep, you watch athletes
cry. I mean, it even have to be at the Olympics just sometimes like you watch them at a
milestone in their life. You watch you you know, you may not understand that, but they’re not it’s not about the
trophy. It’s not, “Yay, I finally got my my ring.” No. No, no, no. It’s because they know
the price they paid. They know what it took to get there.
They know that they made it. I didn’t quit. I didn’t stop. Amen. Number three,
I’m always growing and getting better. See, winning is about progress and
growth. It’s about being hungry to learn, hungry
to grow, hurt her, hungry to win. Wherever you are right now, God’s not
done with you yet. Amen. It’s about being willing to grow.
Number four, here’s a confession. I learn from my mistakes.
I learned I watched my youngest grandson this week in a baseball game and he
played he was playing shortstop Cody and ground ball was hit to him and you know
he he he had he he’s the ball’s coming toward him and and he start moving
toward the ball and he’s going to pick it up and he’s going to throw the guy out. He got just a little bit ahead of
himself like like he he went to pick it up and he’s already in his head going to
throw the runner out and the ball went right down through right past him. He
knew right away. You know what? A few minutes later, another ground ball was hit in his direction. I watched
him go down low. He knew. He learned from his mistake.
Problem is a lot of people don’t learn. Come on. But winners learn. I said
winners learn. You’re going to make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Amen. Number five. I’ll always come out
on top. Life’s not fair. Life can be hard.
People can treat me wrong, but I will always come out on top. I’m talking
about a winning mindset. Look at Deuteronomy 28. It says, “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail.” If you
pay attention to the commands of the Lord that I give you today and you
carefully follow them, you will always be at the top.
And never at the bottom. We belong at the top.
Amen. Overcoming, champions. Number six, adversity won’t
stop me. Talking about a winning mindset. People who have a winning mindset see
problems as something they can work through. Amen. Number
seven. Number seven is I’m an extra mileer. Oh
yeah. I’m an extra mileer. One who goes the
extra mile. who does more than is expected.
Jesus told his followers, he said, “If you if they tell you to go a mile, your overseers, your boss tells you to go a
mile, go too.” If they ask for your coat, also give them your cloak. Everybody say, “I’m an
extra mileer.” See, a winning mindset is not trying to do the minimum
or getting by with as little as possible. A winning mindset is I’m an
extra mileer. I tell I want all the young people, the the youth, the young
adults to understand right now we’re living in a lethargic generation. It’s
your best opportunity. Like if you have any ambition at all to pull out in front,
see doors open up for you, get promotions in your life by being an extra
mileer. Come on. Number eight, I’m not afraid of failure.
Failure is part of success. And the reason, honestly, guys, that
some people are not having more success is they’re too afraid of failure.
Go for it. Well, what if that doesn’t work out? You learned.
You’re going to grow. You’re going to get back up, dust yourself off, and keep moving forward.
Don’t be afraid of failure. Number nine, I don’t dwell on the past. I got a winning mindset.
Come on. How many of you know you can’t do anything to change the past?
Whatever happened, give yourself a window of time to talk about it with people who care about you and ma and
maybe some who can support you and advise you, but then forget about it.
Get that old Boston accent. Forget about it. Forget about
it. Forget about it.
Try it this week with one another. tells him, “Forget about it.” When your
husband brings it up again, “Forget about it.” Amen. Apostle Paul, that’s why he
preached that message. Forgetting the things that are behind, moving forward to the things that are before. I press
toward the mark. Forget about it. All right, the last one. Number 10.
I will flourish in the house of the Lord forever.
I will flourish. I’ll not just be there. No, I’m present. Be glad I got
here. Pastor Kevin, the Psalmist said it like this. I am
like an olive tree flourishing in the house of the Lord.
But get that mindset. I’m I’m growing. I am flourishing. Amen. Does this help
anybody today? A winning mindset. A winning mindset. Let’s put
them all up at once and and and have a look just quick like glance at it. Take
a picture of it. Do whatever you want. I want to help you any way we can today. God is my provider. I’m willing to grind
it out. I’m always growing and getting better. I learn from my mistakes. I’ll
always come out on top. Adversity won’t stop me. I’m an extra mileer. I’m not
afraid of failure. I don’t dwell on the past. And I will flourish in the house
of the Lord for ever.
Amen. The last moment of last moments of our service, I ask
everybody, don’t leave till we’re done. Just stay around. And we got some of the
best things that happened all day happen in the final moments of our service. There’s some
people here today that you are you are new in the
atmosphere of the church. You’re new to God. Some
of you are coming back from being away and God’s brought you back to restore you. Maybe it wasn’t this church that
you were a part of, but somewhere, you know, in the past you walked with God,
closer to God, but there’s been a distance and now you’ve come back. And today, I welcome you home. I’m I’m so
glad that you’re here. Whether whether that’s a new beginning like or a
restoration, we’re just glad you’re here. I’m thankful for what God’s doing in your life and what you’re allowing
him to do in your life. And I want to just say to you though that I I I know
some people are convinced and I haven’t been able to change probably you know most of you even I
would say you’re you’re you’re you got a mindset and it’s going to take some big
bulldozers and cranes and maybe disasters in your life. I don’t know. But you’re you’re
set. You’re set. But I want to have one last word with you and that is that some of you that
are convinced that circumstances matter more than
mindset. That might be your perspective. But I’m telling you that
I’ve seen the opposite. I’ve seen mindsets change everything.
I’ve seen people that were held back for
years in the stronghold of fixed mindsets break out,
get unstuck almost suddenly,
go beyond an invisible barrier. Yes.
and enter a season of flourishing in their own
life. A season of healing, a season of
restoration, marriage, family restored,
friendships that they had kept to themselves and been estranged. But by a
mindset, yes, change, all of a sudden, people were able to come into their
airspace and into their life. And yes, they weren’t as guarded.
[Music] Mindsets are more powerful
than circumstances. And as a Christian, you you’re not
called to lose. You’re called to win. You’re called to be triumphant.
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Everything born of God, the Bible says, overcomes the world. Amen.
Scripture says that we are more than conquerors
through Christ who loved us. So I invite you
today to take the word I’ve given you and meditate on it this week and don’t
get too far from it and just ask yourself, what’s my
what’s my fourminute mile barrier?
what’s holding me back that if I just will change my
mindset, I’ll not be held back any longer.
Amen. Father, I thank you for every person, every man, every woman, the sincerity of the hearts that
are here today. I thank you and I ask you God that by your word you would do
something new, something fresh in our lives. And I pray God that we would
never be the same again in Jesus name. Heads bowed, eyes closed. If you’re here today and you
say, “I need a new beginning in my life, Pastor Kevin. I hear you talk about this
and I’ve had I’ve had challenges. I’ve had setbacks. I’ve been away from God.
And today, if you’re here and you need a new beginning, like you need salvation, you just need a fresh start with God,
I’m going to ask you to boldly raise your hand. Whatever location you’re at today, if God’s calling you, drawing
you, you know it, it’s like my moment, my time. Come on, be bold and just get that take that first step by raising
your hands wherever you are. Just raise a hand up in the air high and join me in this prayer if you would. Hands held
high. Good. I see hands in the room right here. Hands held high. Just say this out loud. Say, “Lord Jesus, welcome
to my world. Forgive me of all my sin. Come into my life.
Change me. Change me from the inside out. From the inside out. I boldly declare. I boldly declare. I’ll never be
the same again. I’ll never be the same. I’m free. I’m free. I’m strong. I’m strong. And I’m God’s property. I’m
God’s property. I’m saved. I’m saved. From my sin. on my way to heaven. On my way to heaven
in Jesus name. in Jesus name. Okay, welcome to the race. God bless you today.