From Pastor Bob

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31

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 Corinthians 9:24

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

Intrigued by the Olympic promise of Citius - Altius - Fortius (Faster, Stronger, Higher), I settled in
front of my TV a couple of February evenings to watch Olympic competition. (I love the Winter
Olympics.) I was excited to watch the Canadian figure skater, Joannie Rochette, who no doubt
captured the hearts of Olympic fans on her two nights of skating. A legitimate medal contender,
she skated well, but not nearly to the level of the gold medalist. Hers was not so much a story of
competing for gold, but of courage in the face of intense emotional pain - her mother had died
suddenly of a heart attack just days before, having traveled to Vancouver from Montreal for the
Olympics, and then struck down by a massive heart attack. Rochette then truly competed on the
level of the Olympic ideal of Citius, Fortius, Altius. Speed, strength, and jumping, not only
physically, but in character as well.

In Scripture, both Paul & Isaiah portray an effective believer as a warrior or athlete who is highly
trained, disciplined, properly equipped, motivated, aware, directed and, of all things, loving! The
believers' opponent is not one but three - the devil, the world, and one's own flesh. The battle or
competition God calls us to is not athletic or physical but spiritual warfare.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.
Ephesians 6:12

We are armed for battle with the armor of God.
The belt, the boot, the breastplate, the helmet, the shield, the sword. (From Ephesians 6:10-17)
Believers are given speed for the race and called to endurance:
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 Cor. 9:24

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.
Hebrews 12:1

The church is given strength for the work of proclaiming Christ:

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Colossians 1:29

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

We soar with the eagles!

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the
LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31