FCC's 9TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

2. RUN THE RACE AS GENUINE
WINNERS
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Bishop Hermie C. Malabanan

3. INTRODUCTION
• 1 Corinthians 9:24—Remember that
in a race everyone runs, but only
one person gets the prize. You also
must run in such a way that you will
win.
• 1 Corinthians 9:25—All athletes
practice strict self-control. They do
it to win a prize that will fade away,
but we do it for an eternal prize.

4. • 1 Corinthians 9:26—So I run
straight to the goal with purpose
in every step. I am not like a boxer
who misses his punches.
• 1 Corinthians 9:27—I discipline my
body like an athlete, training it to
do what it should. Otherwise, I
fear that after preaching to others
I myself might be disqualified.
INTRODUCTION

5. • If anyone was ever considered a
winner in the Christian Life and in
the Church, Paul would
undoubtedly qualify.
INTRODUCTION

6. • And so in these short four verses
Paul personally models the
characteristics of a Genuine
Winner.
INTRODUCTION

7. • 1 Corinthians 9:24—Run in such a
way as to get the prize.
• 1 Corinthians 9:24—You also must
run in such a way that you will
win.
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

8. • CONTENDER means a person who
tries to win something in a
contest.
• If ever a word described the
Apostle Paul, it would be
Contender.
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

9. • 1 In Acts 14, Paul was preaching to
a crowd in Lystra.
• Some of his enemies were able to
turn the crowd against him, and
they stoned him, dragged him
outside the city and left him for
dead.
• As soon as Paul came to life again,
the Bible says "...he got up and went
back into the city.”
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

10. • 2 Timothy 4:7—I have fought a
good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith.
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

11. • PRETENDER means someone who
claims to have the right to a
particular title or position when
others do not agree.
• CONTENDER means a person who
tries to win something in a
contest.
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

12. • PRETENDER—Concerned about
Image and Impressions.
• CONTENDER—Concerned about
Authenticity and Integrity
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

13. • PRETENDER—Settles for
Mediocrity
• CONTENDER—Strives for
Excellence
• PRETENDER—Quits in Difficulty
• CONTENDER—Grows Through
Difficulty
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

14. • What Paul was trying to say is
that if you really want to “win” in
the Christian Life and in the
Church, then you must be a
contender!
I. WINNERS ARE CONTENDERS

15. II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING
• 1 Corinthians 9:25 —And everyone
who competes for the prize is
temperate in all things. Now they
do it to obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable crown.
• 1 Corinthians 9:26 —Therefore I
run thus: not with uncertainty.
Thus I fight: not as one who beats
the air.

16. • One of the principles of running
well and winning is Training.
• In every area of life, we accept
the fact that we must train in
order to do something well and in
order to win.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

17. • Paul, in this passage, uses the
example of an athlete in training
for the Olympics, because of the
intense commitment that athletes
need in order to win.
• They give themselves completely
to their sports, training their
minds and bodies for excellence.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

18. • Lance Armstrong’s autobiography,
entitled "It’s Not About the Bike".
• Lance Armstrong is a phenomenal
cyclist who has won the Tour De
France for the last four years
running.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

19. • One of the things that comes
across very clearly in the book is
Lance’s single-minded devotion to
training; his willingness to suffer
physically, to push his mind and
body to their absolute limit, in the
pursuit of athletic victory.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

20. • Lance Armstrong: "I went back to
training. I rode, and I rode, and I
rode. I rode like I had never
ridden, punishing my body up and
down every hill I could find. . . .
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

21. • I remember one day in particular,
May 3, a raw European spring day,
biting cold. I steered my bike into
the Alps, with Johan following in a
car.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

22. • By now it was sleeting and 32
degrees.
• I didn’t care.
• We stood at the roadside and
looked at the view and the
weather, and Johan suggested
that we skip it.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

23. • I said, "No. Let’s do it."
• I rode for seven straight hours,
alone.
• To win the Tour I had to be willing
to ride when no one else would
ride." – It’s Not About the Bike
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

24. • Hebrews 12:1 —Wherefore seeing
we also are compassed about
with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, and let us run
with patience the race that is set
before us…
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

25. • 1 Corinthians 9:25 —“They do it to
get a crown that will not last; but
we do it to get a crown that will
last forever.”
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

26. • 1 Timothy 4:7 —…and exercise
yourself toward godliness.
• 1 Timothy 4:8 —For bodily
exercise profits a little: but
godliness is profitable for all
things, having promise of the life
that now is and of that which is to
come.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

27. • 1 Corinthians 9:26 —Therefore I
run thus: not with uncertainty.
Thus I fight: not as one who beats
the air.
II. WINNERS ARE ALWAYS
IN TRAINING

28. III. WINNERS PERSEVERE
• Running the race and winning
requires perseverance.
• We have to keep going, no matter
what.

29. • In 1996, Lance Armstrong found
that he had cancer.
• By the time it was diagnosed, it
had already spread to his brain
and his lungs.
• The doctors told him the odds
were low that he would even live,
much less race again.
III. WINNERS PERSEVERE

30. • Hebrews 12:1 —"Therefore, since
we are surrounded by such a
great cloud of witnesses, let us
throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with
perseverance the race marked out
for us.
III. WINNERS PERSEVERE

31. • Hebrews 12:2 —Let us fix our eyes
on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy set
before him endured the cross,
scorning its shame, and sat down
at the right hand of the throne of
God.”
III. WINNERS PERSEVERE

32. • Why do we need perseverance?
• Because the race of life is hard.
• It’s difficult.
• We’re hit with setbacks, and
disappointments, and failures.
• We make mistakes.
• We do foolish things.
• We sin.
III. WINNERS PERSEVERE

33. • How do we resist that
temptation?
• How do we gain the strength to
continue?
• By looking away from our
circumstances and fixing our gaze
on Christ.
• By remembering what he did for
us, and fixing our hope on what he
has promised to do for us.
III. WINNERS PERSEVERE

34. • And by relying, not on our
strength, but on the Lord’s.
• Because Christ is both the author
and the perfecter of our faith.
III. WINNERS PERSEVERE

35. IV. WINNERS HAVE A
GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM
• Winners requires a good support
system.
• You and I need a support system.
• God never intended for us to
function alone.
• That’s why the church is so
important to our spiritual health.
• We need each other.

36. • Ecclesiastes 4:9 —“Two are better
than one, because they have a
good return for their work: If one
falls down, his friend can help him
up.
• Ecclesiastes 4:10 —But pity the
man who falls and has no one to
help him up!
IV. WINNERS HAVE A
GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM

37. • Ecclesiastes 4:12 —Though one
may be overpowered, two can
defend themselves. A cord of
three strands is not quickly
broken.”
IV. WINNERS HAVE A
GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM

38. • Galatians 6:2 —“Carry each
other’s burdens, and in this way
you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
IV. WINNERS HAVE A
GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM

39. • 1 Peter 4:8 —“Above all, love each
other deeply, because love covers
over a multitude of sins. . . .
• 1 Peter 4:10 —Each one should
use whatever gift he has received
to serve others, faithfully
administering God’s grace in its
various forms.”
IV. WINNERS HAVE A
GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM

40. • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 —“Therefore
encourage one another and build
each other up, just as in fact you
are doing.”
IV. WINNERS HAVE A
GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM

41. V. WINNERS KEEP
THE GOAL IN MIND
• Winning requires that we keep the
goal in mind.
• When Lance Armstrong went out
to race that morning, he was
focused on one thing, and one
thing only: winning the Tour De
France.

42. • Hebrews 12:2 —"Let us fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy set before him endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down at the right hand of the
throne of God.”
V. WINNERS KEEP
THE GOAL IN MIND

43. • Philippians 3:13 —"Brothers, I do
not consider myself yet to have
taken hold of it. But one thing I
do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead,
V. WINNERS KEEP
THE GOAL IN MIND

44. • Philippians 3:14 —I press on
toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
V. WINNERS KEEP
THE GOAL IN MIND

45. • Are you focused on that goal?
• Are you pursuing that goal with
single-minded purpose?
• Or are you being distracted from
your devotion to Christ by other
things?
V. WINNERS KEEP
THE GOAL IN MIND

46. CONCLUSION
• One day we will stand on podium -
not for gold medal, but we will
receive the prize.
• May we then with Paul say:

47. • 2 Timothy 4:7—"I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith. Now
there is in store for me the crown
of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, will award to
me on that day--and not only to
me, but also to all who have
longed for his appearing.”
CONCLUSION

48. TO THE FCC Family,
Happy 9th Year Anniversary!
Glory to God!