4.19.26 – Run the Right Race: Flee, Pursue, and Fix Your Eyes on Christ
OPENING PRAYER: Lord, open our eyes so that we may contemplate wondrous things from your Word. Help us to not just hear it, but respond to it. Shape our hearts to love what you love and pursue what you are for. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
INTRO: We live in a world where everything is pulling for our attention—our desires, our circumstances, our fears, and the voices around us. It’s easy to drift, to lose focus, or to settle into a halfway kind of faith.
But this passage doesn’t let us stay there. Paul speaks with urgency and clarity: flee, pursue, fight, take hold. This is a call to live with purpose—running from what destroys and running toward what truly gives life, with our eyes fixed on Christ.
MAIN POINT: The Christian life is not passive—we flee what is empty, pursue what is good, and fix our eyes on Christ so we can finish well.
SCRIPTURE-DRIVEN DISCUSSION
Have someone read 1 Timothy 6:11–16 aloud, then 1 Timothy 6:17–21.
Take a few minutes and ask: What stood out to you? What did you hear in the sermon that connects here?
Additional references from the sermon include Jeremiah 12:5 and Hebrews 12:1–3.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Q1: What are you fleeing—and what are you pursuing? (1 Timothy 6:11)
Reminder: Run from that by running toward this… a single no, a forest of yes.
– What do you need to actively run from right now?
– What are you intentionally pursuing—righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness?
– Are you more focused on stopping sin, or pursuing what God is for?
Q2: Are you living all in on what God is all for? (1 Timothy 6:12)
Reminder: Fight the good fight… this is an all-in kind of life.
– Where are you tempted to live halfway instead of fully committed?
– What would it look like to fight for your faith in this season?
– How does remembering your confession of faith help steady you?
Q3: What are you training your heart to trust? (Jeremiah 12:5 / 1 Timothy 6:11)
Reminder: You will trust God when it gets hard to the level you are training now.
– How are you currently training your heart to trust God?
– Where do you tend to rely on yourself instead of him?
– What daily habits are shaping your future faith?
Q4: What is shaping your focus—Christ or your circumstances? (1 Timothy 6:13–16)
Reminder: Fix your eyes on Christ… not your circumstances.
– When life gets hard, where does your focus go first?
– How does this passage lift your view of God?
– What would change if you consistently saw your life through that lens?
LET’S REMEMBER:
God is not calling us into a restricted life—he’s calling us into a better one. What he is against is always because of what he is for. As we flee what is empty, pursue what is good, fight the good fight, and fix our eyes on Christ, we begin to live the life we were designed for—loving him and walking with him.
Since what we’ve discussed is true and relevant…
Where do you need to move from managing sin to pursuing what God is for?
What is one specific step you can take this week to live more all in?
Example: Instead of just trying to avoid a sin pattern, replace it with a pursuit—choose patience, pursue love, or intentionally fix your attention on Christ in that moment.
CLOSING PRAYER
Lord, thank you for calling us into something better. Help us to flee what is empty and pursue what is good. Strengthen us to fight the good fight, train our hearts to trust you, and fix our eyes on Christ. We want to love you and live for you. In Jesus’name, Amen.